Hey guys, I’m currently on Metro by T-Mobile via bring your own device for $25 a month. I’ve been very very happy with the service as Verizon is absolutely horrible in my area and only connects to LTE while T-Mobile constantly connects to 5G UC and never have seen LTE ones so I kind of want to stick to T-Mobile my problem is I need a hotspot for while I’m at work so I can connect my laptop to work on things. If any of you guys have recommendations I really appreciate it again. I’ve tried visible, total wireless plans and they’ve been absolutely horrible connection wise in my area so anything would really really help. Thank you so much.

I've heard of Mint Mobile and Visible. I also saw some old recommendations for US Mobile and Hello Mobile.

I want to use my own phone (Galaxy S20+) and keep my current phone number.

Are any of these companies recommended over the others?

I don't have a preference of which "big company" that they are under, and I'll be using it for a mix of talk, text, and data, but to be honest, I don't use much, which is why I've always used Tracfone.

Have any of you done this on iPhone?

Helping someone with a physical SIM on their 12 who is getting a 16. How do you do it, is it all self-service on the app to get the service going?

I thought I read in the past that Total Wireless (part of TracFone) is annoying about when you get a new phone.

Hiya reddit,

Finding it a bit difficult to navigate and filter down the best options for me in the MNVO cell provider world; if they are even the best option for me.

Current situation:
T-Mobile One plan @ $70 a month for one line
iPhone 11 Pro

Looking to upgrade my phone currently (I don't upgrade with regularity) and am exploring MVNO options as part of the process.

My current T-Mobile usage is generally less than 15GB per month over the last 2 years, however I am a heavy phone user, but utilize my home Wi-Fi more than cell network. Streaming YouTube video quality while off Wi-Fi is important to me, but most plans only offer 480p which is rather absurd on first blush to me in this age.

I do also travel internationally around once per year, so either full committing into the eSIM world or having a plan with some reasonable international data (5-10GB options) would be preferred.

Any standouts in the MVNO world that people think would fit my needs well, or should I stick with looking at the major carriers where I can get a better deal on a phone upgrade but pay significantly more per month for my cell service?

I want to downgrade my mobile phone plan to a low cost unlimited TNT 1-5gb data plan that has a soft throttled data cap. What is the minimal speed for real-time navigation (including alerts, traffic etc.) for Google Maps (and Waze)to function properly? Is 128kbs enough or do I need 256kbs? Thanks

I filtered the airtable comparison chart with these filters: https://i.imgur.com/ph5yCLf.png

Top picks: https://i.imgur.com/GqSF0Ot.png

All picks: https://i.imgur.com/Uhkl0Jo.png

For top picks he's recommending MobleX unlimited and Visible+

I'm leaning towards the Visible+ Annual as we do travel to Canada and Mexico and the global passes are nice.

Do you have to activate the prepaid plan right when you buy it? As my mint mobile doesn't experience for another month

switch to another MVNO & don't tell anyone (lie when asked what you're on) cuz all anyone will get from carrier lookup sites is the host name (yeah i know it can be an inside job) MVNO's really are the best shield, security thru obscurity

My wife and I have been on an AT&T 9GB Mobile Share Plus with 2 lines for years and it works great with our iPhones. The problem is that it's ~$125/month.

I'm the sort of person that can deal with a few quirks to save a few $. My wife just wants her stuff to work (we even joke about Sling acting up after our switch from YouTubeTV).

I decided to try US Mobile to test the waters, leaving her on AT&T, and it's not been great.

First I went with Dark Star with the data priority increase. This seemed all good until I learned about the visual voicemail and group text issues. That's not going to fly with the missus.

So I switched over to Warp that does not have the issues above. I'm feeling optimistic about this until we go to a kids indoor soccer tournament. Not sure if it was the number of people there or the building, but the data was unusable. And she's there happily surfing in between games. Embarrassingly, I had to ask her to switch on her hotspot so I could check my emails! I understand that this could be a one-off, but, Sling.

I could give up here and add myself back into the AT&T plan, but I am thinking about giving it one more shot. AT&T prepaid 5GB plan for $30/month ($50/month for 2 lines). From what I can see, this seems like it would give us the same experience that have have now for less money.

Does anybody here know of the quirks that may rule out this AT&T prepaid plan for us?

Wondering what your thoughts on Total Wireless is VS Post-Paid Verizon

I've had assurance wireless for many years without. After they went straight lifeline everything changed. My phone was randomly turned off several times and last week I became a victim of identity fraud. Someone tried to set up a second account on my name. I had to go through the fraud department credit the whole nine yards. Assurance that it would take 2 weeks to get my phone back on and I would have to top up.. every time I would top up they would put my phone on restriction and everything will run out in half a day.. When I called them out on it they said that I needed to have $10 limit on my account for the restrictions to come off.. all of this just kept happening.. After doing research I found that there have been many companies that have been involved in malware and hacking other people's accounts and selling the info.. Now I'm not really sure what to do. Do I cancel my insurance and go to a different company with my phone number.. get a new phone number and switch companies or get rid of it all together. That phone number was tied to everything pretty much but my safety is more important . I wonder if all the companies are like that. The lifeline people said that the person tried to set up a TracFone . If I do switch companies then I'm just going to use it for calls and nothing else but not really sure what that changes. Any advice would be helpful .

I need to add a line of service to a Motorola 5G phone. I'd like to get unlimited and unrestricted data, and hopefully unlimited hotspot for perhaps ~$50 per month.

Which carrier or service do you recommend? I went through the sub, but offers expire and I'm unfamiliar with most of these new companies and the towers they operate on.

I'm in Los Angeles. The phone is unlocked, but doesn't have a SIM card. I would really appreciate some guidance.

BE AWARE THAT AT THIS POINT, WE ARE AT THE LEAKED RUMOR STAGE. NOTHING IS 100% CONFIRMED.

https://hellohelium.com/waitlist

Entering your email at the above link puts you on some sort of waiting list. Speculation from current Helium users is that the waiting list is for a soon-to-be-released free plan.

The following is the text from a captured screenshot supposedly detailing this upcoming free plan:

"What's in your plan? 3gb of free data. 300 texts & 100 voice minutes. No contract. Refer your friends. Earn cloud points. Top-Up Anytime."

"So go ahead - dive in and enjoy the world's first free plan."

Post containing the screenshot has since been removed. Was it deleted because the information is not supposed to be released to the public, or was it because somebody was just trolling? Not sure.

Earlier tonight I switched from the TracFone Verizon SIM to the T-Mobile SIM. It took all of twenty minutes.

I first acquired the BYOD kit with the T-Mobile SIM (marked SIM B), which you can get from TracFone's eBay storefront, Family Dollar, Wal-Mart, etc. This kit seems to be differentiated from the Verizon-only kit by price ($5.00 pre-tax) and the inclusion of a QR code on the front of the package.

I then attempted an online activation, which failed, requiring me to call 611, whom promptly switched me over to T-Mobile. FYI, if you are unable to do this via self-service online, make sure you have some sort of record of your balance(s), support is known to lose these things (and if you particularly care about stability, then consider avoiding this switch).

The switch was nearly instantaneous.

Samsung Galaxy S25 models are shipping now and if you have issues activating on Verizon based MVNO/pre-paids, the reason according to US Mobile support is:

Whenever a device is launched, the parent carrier has to load IMEIs in their database so that it can be used for activating eSIMs on their network. This is specific to Warp, btw.

For the first few days, we need to escalate these devices to them so that they can be mapped. Good thing is that this process becomes automated after a couple of days, and you don’t need to reach out to get it mapped.

It usually gets mapped within 24 hours, but it can take a little longer in some cases where we're awaiting our parent carrier's response—no relation to business hours; we work on this 24/7. So let me get your details and check the escalation and interaction to make sure everything is on it's track.

However there is a way to map the IMEI yourself immediately without waiting for carrier, which allows you to activate immediately

• Go here: https://www.verizon.com/sales/digital/byod/selectMakeAndModel.html?type=smartphone&disableCall=true&fromBYOD=true
• Select 1 Smartphone, press Continue
• Enter ZIP code and press Continue
• Input your device make and model and Unlocked as carrier, then Continue. If model is not available select the previous model from same manufacturer (i.e. Samsung > Galaxy S24) and Unlocked.
• Enter your physical IMEI (IMEI 1) and select “Activate with eSIM.”- If all is well, the bar will turn green and state “This device will work on the Verizon network.”
• Redo but delete the physical IMEI (IMEI 1) and input your secondary IMEI (for the devices with eSIM / IMEI 2) - The bar should again turn green and state “This device will work on the Verizon network.”
• Doing this forcefully adds your device to Verizon’s “whitelist” so you can now activate this device on Verizon MVNOs like Visible, Total, and US Mobile Warp.

PS got this from /u/MYXXdev here but I updated slightly for newer process since that post a year ago when Galaxy S24s were launched.

Also in the past the Visible compatibility checker also worked to register new device IMEIs for use on other Verizon MVNOs, not sure if it works still but try here: https://www.visible.com/shop/compatibility

I was looking for info on adding a new phone (bundled w/1500m) to an existing line (unlimited minutes, about 5mo left) when I noticed that people do things for the points too. (I apparently lost all our points in the last phone activation without knowing that the agent made a new account for us. 🥺)

So I want to make sure I do this correct, AND the best way to benefit us. Since some of y'all are masters at tracphone bundles, I've come to ask your sage advice. 🙏🏽

What are my options, and what's the best to benefit us? If we add a line and activate the new device on it, can we smush the 2 lines together later, or is it better to simply add the new device to his existing line.

Thank you!

Currently have two phone lines, one is on a $30 unlimited plan with total wireless and I won't be changing that one. Currently the second line is on mobileX with limited text and call (though I don't need a lot on that line) and 4 GB of data for about $10,

I'd like to get the second line to a better deal, SafeLink seems like the best deal with amount of data but I'd also like to get one off of Verizon, preferably T-Mobile as at&t kinda sucks in my area. What are my best options?

Above screenshot: 246 down is Helium 35 down is TFB

I have both plans. When I run speed tests on Helium they are consistently faster the Business Unlimited Select.

I thought I’ve read that T-Mobile For Business has higher QCI priority than MVNOs?

Or is the ‘cheap’ T-Mobile For Business plan on a lower priority than even MVNOs?

I couldn’t find anything in the plan details that stated this.

Good morning beautiful people 🌞

I am switching to SafeLink Wireless soon, and am excited they use Verizon's network... My question: will I have access to VZW's 5G network, specifically their 5G UW network, or will it be LTE only or low-band 5G?

I will be using an unlocked VZW phone with the SafeLink Wireless SIM card. It's a Motorola Moto G 5G 2024. With a VZW SIM card, it doesn't support VZW mmWave 5G, but it does support C-band, low band and of course LTE. My assumption was that it would work exactly the same way with SafeLink, considering the network will be the same.

What do you guys think?

Thanks! 🌻🌄☕

Hello,

Questions

How do I find best coverage for my area?:

I looked up coveragemap.com and it says that T-Mobile is the best one followed by verizon, however, from what I understand coverage map is crowd sourced. Is there any other good sources that I can compare coverage maps to get a better idea if T-Mobile is the one I should choose

Best carrier for at least 50gb hotspot: Visible seems to be the best carrier for hotspot in regards to Verizon, I got a feeling I'm probably gonna go with Verizon, but.. what would be visible equivalent to T-Mobile?

My situation: I'm a gig driver, doing doordash, Uber, ect.. Currently using boost mobiles $60 plan 50gb hotspot.

I plan on having 4 phones. Three for work only, and one for watching videos and playing some mobile games potentially. After looking at my usage I feel confident that 50gb is all id need if I sacrifice my entertainment phone a bit, though sometimes I do go over the limit and the deprioritization is bad with boost. Unlimited for either carrier would be sweet but i think $60 is the limit

I just ordered the Infimobile-Tmobile 15GB/month plan in Amazon. Will be activating after a month when my current service expires.

• During Activation, can I use the PSIM details and convert that to ESIM? Want to know if I can avoid using PSIM. If yes, is there a fee?
• Does Wi-Fi calling work with the TMobile option?

Any other tips appreciated.

Price good for 2 years.

I've been using ATT for basically 20 years. Started on a family plan as a teenager and now am just by myself.

I'm currently on the AT&T Unlimited Starter SL plan which is $70.99 a month. For the record, I always buy my new iphones from apple and never through ATT, becuase I keep my old phones and dont trade them in (often give them to my mom or something)

I looked into the pre-paid plans and they ALL seem better than my current plan, actually most are not only cheaper but ALSO better.

For example Unlimited MAX® + 25GB hotspot data is $55 Unlimited MAX® Plus + 35GB hotspot data is $65

Both are cheaper than my plan. My plan only has 5GB hot spot and the same SD streaming as the cheaper Unlimited max plan. The upgraded max plan actually allows for HD streaming with NO throttling and is 10 dollars cheaper than my current plan.

Can someone explain this BS to me? Why are prepaid plans obviously better?

I figured there might be some catch so I called ATT directly, prepaid and regular plans are two different departments, so they refuse to answer my questions about which plan I should have.

So can anyone help me out? Why would I stay on a normal plan when pre-paid is so much better? Is the coverage worse or something?

Switching lifetime to paid company I'm in NY I have lifetime free phone Gen Network I finally got a job and purchased iPhone 16 through Boost Mobile . Boost cannot port in my number ! They are trying for 20 days and just can't do it . I'm about to cancel the transaction and send them back the iPhone . Gem mobile said I have no issue transferring my number to Boost they gave me the account number and the pin. I'm using Android with sim card phone and trying to switch to iPhone esim. . Should I try with a different carrier? Is it Boost issue or Gem? Any helpful idea please ! I need a new phone

I'm starting up a virtual business. My partner and I will mostly work off of mobile phones, WhatsApp, and email.

We'd prefer that other people's caller IDs would show our company name when we call them (as opposed to "Wireless Caller").

US Mobile said they can do this under their Warp (Verizon) plan.

Does anyone else provide this service?

Recently heard about redbull mobile and people using it as a second Sim for traveling? It says to use it in addition to your main service...so what's the benefit over an unlimited data plan that includes unlimited international rates from someone like Tmobile or Spectrum or any other carrier that includes international data in the base plan? I must be missing something, thanks.

Hello I was wondering if anyone can help with a question I have about sending pics from a talk and text only sim using the data from a second sim that has data. Is it possible? I wanted to get a sim from H20 wireless talk and text only but if I had to send a pic occasionly that I would be able to using the other sims data. Thanks

Looking to maybe migrate my wife from US Mobile Dark Star to Cricket. Dark star doesn't support visual voicemail and I've read about the group message issues too. She has an iPhone 11 (4G only) so using Warp doesn't make sense since she'll be deprioritized (Verizon is heavy deprioritized around here it seems). She doesn't need hotspot. I see Cricket has 3 months for $45 and also 1 year for $300.

Can we do the 3 months for $45 and then do the 1 year for $300 afterwards if she decides to continue? There is some verbiage on their website about not switching from monthly plans to multi-month plans.

I'm on total (Verizon priority) and would like to keep her on AT&T's network so, between the two of us, we have multiple networks for coverage when traveling.