Recommendation for a single line for new user daughter

[Hogan773]

I have already 5 lines on Cricket for 125, unlimited. Now I want to add my daughter who will be getting a phone soon, but you can't get a discount for the 6th line.

What is best option for reliable service that is also not expensive....she prob would use a few gigs worst case per month. Right now this is just to get her a phone for use if she rides alone to summer school etc.

Mint Mobile? One of the TMobile MVNOs? ATT Prepaid?

I don't want to get too sporty with some backwater MVNO with nonexistent customer service where her texts won't work and then I spend a bunch of time having to try to get someone to get it fixed. So "best value" altogether and I don't need to go bargain basement to save 2 extra bucks a month haha, but I still want a low price

Thanks

[zapjb]

I am very satisfied with Visible wireless. Sure I wish hotspot speeds were 10MBps vs 5MBps. But at most I'm paying $25 a month including taxes for Unlimited Talk, Unlimited Text, Unlimited Data & Unlimited Hotspotting for 1 device. And since it's owned by Verizon the word Unlimited means more than any Verizon MVNOs.

If anybody is considering switching to Visible wireless by Verizon. I suggest you throw $5 at Visible for the 1st month & see if you like it. If you are bewildered about a friend code for $5 for the 1st month & Party Pay (to never pay more than $25 after that) post# 352 explains everything nicely.

https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...-Thread/page24

[Hogan773]

Interesting

What is the catch on Visible? Deprioritization? Anything else?

I may move my son over to this plan as he starts to head off into the world, as then he only has to pay 25 bucks a month. He is a big data user so wouldn't want a plan that had a fixed bucket, but are the speeds here bad?

[sillyette]

Just in case you don't know about this great resource - prepaidcompare.net - it's great for finding plans for different use scenarios.

[Rojniles]

Twigby, uses the Verizon network.

Talk, text, 3 GB for $20 a month. (or less)


See Clark Howard's review at clark.com


Sent from my SM-T500 using Tapatalk

[nnd_newbie]

Interesting

What is the catch on Visible? Deprioritization? Anything else?

I may move my son over to this plan as he starts to head off into the world, as then he only has to pay 25 bucks a month. He is a big data user so wouldn't want a plan that had a fixed bucket, but are the speeds here bad?

- only 4G/5G Verizon network, no CDMA (which is OK cause CDMA will be shut down soon enough)
- no roaming, neither domestic nor international. Which means you don't get US coverage ao good as in Verizon postpaid. Only where Verizon has it's own towers (no roaming is pretty common among MVNO)
- hotspot limited to 5Mb/s and to 1 device, which is pretty awesome anyway. You are limited by speed but you can use it as much as you can
- deprioritization/uncommon network configuration - whole network is routed through few data centers. Which means bigger ping than usual and occasionally lower speeds.

[clonehappy]

If you want problem free, stable service I’d stay away from Visible. Or any MVNO really, they all pretty much have issues at one point or another.

Issues I’ve had with prepaid/MVNOs:

Visible - random missed incoming texts, frequent drops to “No Service” which require a phone reboot to fix, random calls that don’t ring the phone, frequent areas of slow/nonexistent data because of deprioritization, random incoming calls with no caller ID information. You get what you pay for.

US Mobile - service was overall good, data speeds seemed fine, much closer to postpaid Verizon level service than Visible. No drops to No Service, and eSIM worked well. However, I had an issue where even though I had paid for the next month already, I had no service one day out of the blue until I called them to “verify my information”. Very shady, and I decided I would no longer be doing business with them for any line that mattered.

Tello - Had a line on Tello for years with zero issues, I always recommended them as the best MVNO, and other than a few very small areas with congestion issues on Sprint (much fewer than Visible/Verizon) the service was perfect. 10/10. Until they migrated to T-Mobile, and VoLTE was broken so phone calls and texts essentially stopped working at my house. Dropped them quickly after that.

What I can recommend, if you’re in a strong T-Mobile area, are the Connect plans. They are prioritized data, so no worries about being artificially slowed down. I’ve never had missed calls or texts on T-Mobile prepaid either. If T-Mobile is no good where you’re at, the Boost Mobile yearly plans are a good deal if you can pay in advance. They’re essentially an AT&T MVNO now, and I have a line for testing that out and it’s never had any issues, but admittedly my usage on that phone is very low. Since you’re already on Cricket, you know that AT&T works for you so maybe this would be a good option?

Any of the carriers own branded prepaid offerings are usually trouble-free, but cost a little more. I really think these are the best balance of trouble-free service and value out there, but your mileage may vary.


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[VisionsDivine]

If you're wanting value with as few shenanigans as possible, maybe look at the big carrier's prepaid divisions?

[SpynCycle]

T-Mobile prepaid Connect plans.
$10 gets 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text, and 1 GB data per month
$15 gets unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 3 GB data per month.

[Hogan773]

If you want problem free, stable service I’d stay away from Visible. Or any MVNO really, they all pretty much have issues at one point or another.

Issues I’ve had with prepaid/MVNOs:

Visible - random missed incoming texts, frequent drops to “No Service” which require a phone reboot to fix, random calls that don’t ring the phone, frequent areas of slow/nonexistent data because of deprioritization, random incoming calls with no caller ID information. You get what you pay for.

US Mobile - service was overall good, data speeds seemed fine, much closer to postpaid Verizon level service than Visible. No drops to No Service, and eSIM worked well. However, I had an issue where even though I had paid for the next month already, I had no service one day out of the blue until I called them to “verify my information”. Very shady, and I decided I would no longer be doing business with them for any line that mattered.

Tello - Had a line on Tello for years with zero issues, I always recommended them as the best MVNO, and other than a few very small areas with congestion issues on Sprint (much fewer than Visible/Verizon) the service was perfect. 10/10. Until they migrated to T-Mobile, and VoLTE was broken so phone calls and texts essentially stopped working at my house. Dropped them quickly after that.

What I can recommend, if you’re in a strong T-Mobile area, are the Connect plans. They are prioritized data, so no worries about being artificially slowed down. I’ve never had missed calls or texts on T-Mobile prepaid either. If T-Mobile is no good where you’re at, the Boost Mobile yearly plans are a good deal if you can pay in advance. They’re essentially an AT&T MVNO now, and I have a line for testing that out and it’s never had any issues, but admittedly my usage on that phone is very low. Since you’re already on Cricket, you know that AT&T works for you so maybe this would be a good option?

Any of the carriers own branded prepaid offerings are usually trouble-free, but cost a little more. I really think these are the best balance of trouble-free service and value out there, but your mileage may vary.


Sent from my iPhone using HoFo

If you're wanting value with as few shenanigans as possible, maybe look at the big carrier's prepaid divisions?

T-Mobile prepaid Connect plans.
$10 gets 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text, and 1 GB data per month
$15 gets unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 3 GB data per month.

All SUPER HELPFUL, thanks

That is sort of where my thoughts were forming too....I have really liked Cricket and never had issues there, and especially after they moved all the plans to full LTE speed and 5G capable, I can't beat $25 a line unlimited. I remember on my first son's first phone (which we wanted to be a FLIP PHONE) even goofing around with RINGPLUS which was effectively free and generally worked if I remember. So now I don't really have time or inclination to have a service that doesn't work sometimes, and then I need to be on hold with some call center in Malaysia for 3 hours trying to resolve, so yeah I think I will stick with one of the real carriers' prepaid services. I wish Cricket had a cheaper option but they don't. For my daughter, at least initially, something in that T-Mobile $10-15 range may work. I was looking last night at the Boost Mobile too, but it still wasn't clear to me that you are definitely getting activated on the AT&T network?

Is there a way to know whether I am in a "strong TMobile area" without just trying it? I am in Chicago burbs so I assume this is a strong TMobile area. If I went with Boost on AT&T, any benefits there? (that would not actually be a "carrier's own prepaid network" I guess). Boost is deprioritized AT&T? Would it be lower priority than my current Cricket? (I have not had any slowness issues on Cricket recently especially since they eliminated the 8mbps cap)

[rpz1]

So you've been happy with Cricket.

Then why not just stick with them since you know their system and service.
If I'm understanding their plans, even if you could get another line with a discount it would likely be $25. A line by itself is $30. Only an extra $5 (taxes, fees excluded of course).
Can you get it cheaper elsewhere, sure. But again, if you've been happy with Cricket, their billing system, and their service, save yourself allot of unknown headache. There's value in peace of mind. Just food for thought.

[Hogan773]

So you've been happy with Cricket.

Then why not just stick with them since you know their system and service.
If I'm understanding their plans, even if you could get another line with a discount it would likely be $25. A line by itself is $30. Only an extra $5 (taxes, fees excluded of course).
Can you get it cheaper elsewhere, sure. But again, if you've been happy with Cricket, their billing system, and their service, save yourself allot of unknown headache. There's value in peace of mind. Just food for thought.

Certainly possible....seems like I could get a similar level of data (5GB/unlimited calls and texts) for $15-ish though, if I want to play around with Boost or TMo-Connect. Does anyone know what the TMo-Connect total price ends up with taxes and fees? One thing that I enjoy about Cricket is that I can get discounted refill cards from the Kroger/Target deals so often my real price is at least 10% off....can I get that for TMo and/or Boost?

[zapjb]

For Boost or TMo-Connect in MOST states you add ~20% for taxes & fees.

Btw Visible is not a MVNO it is wholly owned by Verizon. If interested see post# 2 here.

[rpz1]

For Boost or TMo-Connect in MOST states you add ~20% for taxes & fees.

Btw Visible is not a MVNO it is wholly owned by Verizon. If interested see post# 2 here.

Does that mean Tracfone is no longer an MVNO ?

[zapjb]

Does that mean Tracfone is no longer an MVNO ?

When they get rid of or convert all their ATT/TM lines they will no longer be an MVNO.