I’m considering given up on Verizon. Their coverage is good but their customer service is abysmal. Looking into alternatives in the Boston area, there are other large plans (Sprint, ATT) with even better coverage than Verizon, as well as at least a dozen smaller providers. Has anyone had experience with providers other than Verizon?
Usage pattern and needs?
4 lines, two smartphones needing data plan, two old phones needing only talk/text. We currently have 20 GB of data, unlimited talk and text. Need that much data, or more, don’t need unlimited talk/text. I’m considering giving up home FIOS so may need more data to use mobile hotspot.
Note that many mobile phone services are virtual ones which resell airtime from one or more of the actual operators like Verizon, Sprint, T Mobile, AT&T, or US Cellular. But they may have better plans (particularly if you want prepaid), and some use multiple networks by default to increase coverage.
20+GB data may be the tough part, since many “unlimited data” plans do slow data speed at high usage.
Would suggest first shopping for the smart phones. Non data prepaid plans can be very inexpensive for the other two phones, so it is not necessary to include them in the main plan, unless the additional cost is minimal.
That’s a good point, to separate the non-data phones. I will definitely look into that.
I think both my kids are now on Sprint and frustrated that when they travel outside Boston, they risk losing service. Meanwhile, I’m clicking away on V. But we’re talking about some non urban spots.
The plan H and I each have is 2 lines with TMobile unlimited voice, data and text for $60 per two lines. We each have one of our young adults on a line, so $120 for all 4 lines including taxes and fees and everything else! At least one person on the pair of lines has to be 55+ to qualify and you have to have automatic billing. I’ve lost track of prices for other companies. We brought our own phones–2 iphones and 2 androids.
Here is a comparison chart of low cost prepaid plans that you may want to consider for your non-data phones, if they do not have particularly heavy use: http://cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm
http://cellguru.net/ has some other comparison charts that may be helpful.
If you drop home broadband service, that presumably means not having unmetered wifi data at home. Be aware that software updates for apps on your phone and security fixes for the phone’s OS can consume a lot of data. The same goes for software updates on any computers that you tether to your phones to use cellular data for internet access.
In terms of trying to control data use, you may want to install an aggressive ad blocker like uBlock Origin on all of your mobile phone’s browsers (and on your computer’s browsers if you tether them to your mobile phone). Ads are mostly data-hogging images, so eliminating them from your web browsing can reduce your data use considerably. I am not opposed to ads, but it seems like the ad makers have trouble “behaving nicely”.
Yow, ucb. I see a few articles on this but it was certainly a question I had, that V couldn’t answer. Tx.
Thank you all for the information - it’s very helpful! We already own the phones but they are Verizon. I’ve checked and it seems that at least the smartphones can be used on other networks.
I’m happy to know about the ad blocker software.
@HImom, you are paying much less than I pay for a better (unlimited data) plan. I will have to check into what happens with speed if you use a lot of data.
TMobile promised us NO throttling and that this 55+ Plan would be grandfathered. S uses a ton of data and we use a fair amount as well in our online game (both H&I). We have been happy it was cheaper than our $100 family plan for 4 PLUS tax and fees plus more if you wanted high speed for more than a few GB per line (which S wanted so he could stream music during his daily commute).
We are under 55 and have 4 lines with T-Mobile with unlimited everything for $140/mo (taxes and fees included). We live rurally and when driving through the mountains we do lose signal more than with Verizon, but even with V we didn’t have full coverage. I got sick of V’s fees and constantly trying to decipher our bill from month to month. TM’s bill is constant, so it is worth it to me have a few more dark spots.
We have at&t and I am so unhappy. I was about to ask the same question, which provider to switch to.
We have AT&T and T-Mobile, and have recently had Verizon and Sprint. We travel a lot (mostly in the west, east & midwest) and have passed through the plains north and south within the past few months.
First, check coverage. One of the best is www.sensorly.com, which uses actual user tests. ‘Coverage’ just means that you will be able to call and text. Check the download and upload speed tests for a better idea of your experience. No carrier is best in every situation. Most carriers use the same towers these days, so a lot of the coverage depends on frequency bands, antenna aiming, power, and and technology used.
In general: Sprint is the worse for speed and coverage. They roam onto Verizon, but have limited data roaming thresholds. If you spend most of your time in cities, suburbs, and interstate highways any of the carriers will work for you. It’s when you travel outside of those areas that it becomes less clear.
T-Mobile has very good customer service, a 50Gb prioritization threshold (speeds may slow down > 50Gb) on the unlimited plans, but roams - only at low speed - in many rural areas. They also have limited data roaming for personal plans at low speeds. Small business plans (same cost) do not have roaming limits, but also roam at low speeds. That being said, they have built out their network quite a bit recently, but you need a band 71 phone (e.g. Galaxy S9, LG V30) to take advantage of the greater coverage. iPhones do not support band 71 (currently). T-mobile tends to prioritize data speed over coverage, so you will likely have higher speed near a tower and lower further away from one. You can buy 10GB phone hotspot & HD video for $10/mo, or unlimited phone hotspot with international calling for $25/mo.
Verizon and AT&T seem to be about the same overall, but I’d give Verizon an edge in rural coverage, and AT&T an edge in data speed.
If you drill down to the actual plans, look at the following:
Data - What is the full speed before de-prioritization? Some AT&T ‘unlimited’ plans are 3Mb/sec. Cricket is around 8Mb/sec. You need > 5Mb/sec for HD video. Is HD video included (some plans throttle all video streams)? How much extra is a hotspot (phone or stand-alone)?
Tablets/hotspot - Do you have an iPad and do you want cellular coverage?
North America calling/roaming - included or extra cost? Any limits?
International text/calling - Included? How much extra? Can you use skype or google voice instead?
International roaming - Cost of calls, texts, and data? Is there an unlimited data roaming option?
Cost: What is the final, out the door cost of the plan? T-mobile, most prepaid, and US cellular are carriers that include all taxes and fees. Some states and carriers charge 30% on top of the advertised price.
We are on ATT prepaid, multiple line plan, and autopay. Two have data and the other two just unlimited text and calls.
It’s $100/per month plus tax for 4 phones.
https://www.att.com/att/prepaid-multiline-discount/
You can also check into Cricket prepaid plans, they use ATT network.
I’m going to tell you a good story about Verizon’s customer service. Just to say that they aren’t always awful. My sibling died unexpectedly several years ago. I went to my parent’s house (not in my city) immediately. We had lots of calls to make — family, friends, attorneys due to an immediate dispute over his property and filing of his will, etc. My parents had a cordless phone that kept running out of charge due to heavy use, and I had a Verizon cell phone with a plan with very limited minutes — but in this situation I just called away and figured I’d pay whatever the bill was.
Fast forward a month and the bill arrives — $1,400 dollars. 
I immediately called Verizon. Once they heard the reason for the overage, they allowed me to backdate to a new plan (about $30 a month more than I’d been paying) with no contract extension. Whew! Then about a month later they called me back. Said they’d noticed my usage had gone back down to my old levels, and wondered if I wanted to go back to my original plan (which I did) — again with no contract extension.
I’m not defending them against any bad customer service experience you’ve had. But they did right by me in a bad situation.
We have been with ATT prepaid for almost 8 years and have had no problems.
You pay your plan fee, that’s it. No overages, no bills, just have it auto-deducted from my CC.