I'm not criticizing you, I am just letting you up know how to avoid the locked phone thing if you weren't aware.

I just switches to Visible by Verizon and it's great so far. I pay $45/month for the "premium " plan, meaning I get unlimited data without them throttling my speeds for excessive use or use during high traffic times. Works as good as Verizon did.

Sea Speed said:

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With all of these options I am not sure why people even pay $100+ per month for one of the major carriers.

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Agreed! I think the only difference is priority when there are big crowds (Kyle Field, etc), but to me that's not worth the extra cost.

I will say, the thing I miss most about Mint is the hilarious Christmas gifts that Ryan Reynolds sends customers every year.

What kind of gifts?

Visible/Verizon (owned by Verizon)won't deprioritize you if you pay for premium ($45/month)

histag10 said:

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Visible/Verizon (owned by Verizon)won't deprioritize you if you pay for premium ($45/month)

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That's still 2x us mobile using the same Verizon towers. Same with mint but they are T-Mobile.

histag10 said:

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Visible/Verizon (owned by Verizon)won't deprioritize you if you pay for premium ($45/month)

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I love my $20 Visible plan too much. I'll deal with the deprioritization for a few days a year!

Except verizon will deprioritize us mobile in high traffic times, and us mobile will throttle your speeds after using a certain amount of data. I could pay $20 for the basic plan, but need access and consistent ability to use my phone.

The $45 is less than half what I paid verizon per month.

histag10 said:

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Except verizon will deprioritize us mobile in high traffic times, and us mobile will throttle your speeds after using a certain amount of data. I could pay $20 for the basic plan, but need access and consistent ability to use my phone.

The $45 is less than half what I paid verizon per month.

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The plan I looked at had 15 GB of priority data and that was enough for me. That's what I have now with mint and I almost never get close to using it all.

Calls are spotty in your house? Why are you not making calls via Wi-Fi while at home?

42 said:

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Calls are spotty in your house? Why are you not making calls via Wi-Fi while at home?

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I do. I said my house to mean my entire property. My WiFi doesn't cover very much of that so when I am listening to podcasts on the tractor or something it will occasionally cut out or I will miss calls or texts.

42 said:

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Calls are spotty in your house? Why are you not making calls via Wi-Fi while at home?

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He uses a dotted line.

Cellular One

I just saw a keychain for C*** Mobile. Maybe you could try that?

If Verizon has good coverage where you are try USMobile Warp5G. It has prioritized data on their network unlike other MVNOs or regular Visible plan. I get 35 gigs for $25 but their plans change a bit.

Do any of these MVNOs get you access to international calls and data when abroad? That's what has held me back in the past. Don't want to have to get a new number/sim for travelling internationally

Can you get a prepaid burner for travel?

GarlandAg2012 said:

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Do any of these MVNOs get you access to international calls and data when abroad? That's what has held me back in the past. Don't want to have to get a new number/sim for travelling internationally

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Mint had intl plans included but they changed it several times over the last few months so I haven't kept up with it. On cursory glance the other day it looked like US mobile had some sort of intl plan included

Sea Speed said:

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42 said:

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Calls are spotty in your house? Why are you not making calls via Wi-Fi while at home?

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I do. I said my house to mean my entire property. My WiFi doesn't cover very much of that so when I am listening to podcasts on the tractor or something it will occasionally cut out or I will miss calls or texts.

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Maybe you should consider ReFi.

That would be a different phone number. Same as just getting a new SIM card. The idea is I want to be reachable on my number when abroad.

People clone numbers all the time. Just clone your own number.

Sea Speed said:

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We have been using Mint for several years with no real issues, but sometimes service is spotty at our new house which can get annoying. Our year is up soon so wanted to check out my options. Does anyone have any experience with any of the other discount Cell providers and what has your experience been like?

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We've used Mint for our boys for years.

Do you have Wifi Calling turned on? Might fix your problem at home, and save you from having to shop around.


Edit: nvm...I see you just answered this. Ignore

Mint and Viz have international for an extra fee that you only pay when you're out of the country.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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Do any of these MVNOs get you access to international calls and data when abroad? That's what has held me back in the past. Don't want to have to get a new number/sim for travelling internationally

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Yes, us mobile has it automatically on their 2 higher unlimited plans on GSM (T-Mobile) network. Can add international to pretty much all plans though for small fee for a 30 day window.

Warp (Verizon) has it in Canada and Mexico i think?

Darkstar (ATT) should have full international roaming like GSM when its live

They also offer international data plans if your phone supports esim which allows you to wifi call while international using your normal sim from home.

I don't think US Cellular is a discount carrier, but I switched to them yesterday, and dropped my bill for two lines unlimited data, one with a hot spot, from $90 per month to $67. I'm pleased with that. Five years ago I was paying over $120 with Verizon.

histag10 said:

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Except verizon will deprioritize us mobile in high traffic times, and us mobile will throttle your speeds after using a certain amount of data. I could pay $20 for the basic plan, but need access and consistent ability to use my phone.

The $45 is less than half what I paid verizon per month.

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This isn't accurate, you don't get deprioritized on Verizon with US Mobile unless you exceed your data plan as long as you're using a 5G phone. It's the same QCI as Verizon post paid.

# Verizon

Verizon only uses 3 QCI classes 7, 8, and 9.

QCI 7 is reserved exclusively for Verizon Frontline customers so this priority level may as well not exist for those of us who aren't first responders.

QCI 8 is given to the business Plus 5G, business Pro 5G, consumer postpaid plans (other than Welcome Unlimited), all of Xfinity Mobile's plans, all of Spectrum Mobile's plans, Lexvor, and MobileX. US Mobile's Warp 5G SIM offers QCI 8 data on 5G devices only. Visible+ has QCI 8 as well until 50GB of LTE/5G Nationwide data is used (5G UW is unlimited QCI 8).

QCI 9 goes to everything else. The Start 5G business plan, branded prepaid besides the Unlimited Plus plan, Visible's base plan, US Mobile Warp 5G when on an LTE only device, Mobi, and all other prepaid companies that use Verizon's network are known to assigned to this QCI. Anyone who uses their premium data bucket on Verizon's brands will be moved to QCI 9.

TracFone and their associated brands is up in the air. I have gotten reports of priority data (and seen it myself on SafeLink, a TracFone brand) but I've also gotten reports of deprioritized data, complete with screenshots. It seems to be random what people get so if you absolutely require priority data, it might be best to look outside of the TracFone brands.

Is there a way to look this info up for other networks?

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/s/2BvaZKb9oZ

We brought our own phones to Xfinity during one of their specials. Our monthly payment for 6 lines of unlimited data is $60 + tax/fees
We do have our internet through them as well, so that was part of the special.

I believe they also use the Verizon network.

I switched to US Cellular on July 9. Signed up for "Unlimited Basic" for two lines at $30 per month per line.

They've already raised my rate to $40 per line and declared "Unlimited Basic" a legacy plan.

The $23 per month I was saving over Cricket is now $3 per month.

EDIT - US Cellular was actually charging me $39.99 per month per line (shown on page 1 of my bill) with a $10 paperless billing/autopay discount (shown on page 3). It was explained to me, and I'm good.