Plans....5G.... Save some $$$$!!

So, I've been playing around with 5G providers and the best speeds for ME come from T-Mobile based plans.

I've tried VZW based plans with my OP 8 Pro which is "compatible" with all of their bands that they use https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...lte-na-256gb-in2025-bbk-galilei/united-states

However, VZW is disappointing even with approved devices on their MVNO providers for some reason. I used to do work on their network and they provided a handset that worked fine. Their in house engineers showed some impressive speeds on their devices so, the network should provide better speeds. In my testing though it ranged from 1mbps - ~25mbps.

Meanwhile TM based testing is hitting 600/100 speeds. Now, knowing a bit about how these networks are designed / built from the inside I have some perspective on why things do what they do. The low speeds on VZW based MVNO's seem to be using more legacy profiles on their SIM's or being restricted to legacy connectivity in the VZW provisioning system. The speeds are 3G at best here even though the phone shows LTE+ while connected. With the 600x100 on TM it rules out any speed cap by the device not being able to hit the max 200-250mbps DL speeds quoted by the MVNO's per plan.

Now, let's get down to it.

Since I've been switching "carriers" lately I'm considering moving my # back to Google Voice instead of porting it around from one SIM to the next. For $20 you can move it over there and DL the App for calls / SMS on your phone or use the app on the web as well instead of on your phone. Getting the # retention out of the way makes switching "plans" much easier not worrying about cut off dates or time frames to get it moved from one carrier to the next.

So, here's what I'm finding for mid to high Data plans.

US Mobile (w/ tax)

• 1GB + HS - $21.91
  
  
• 5GB + HS - $25.31
  
  
• 12GB + HS - $ 30.83
  
  
• 15GB Data Only - $31.83 (gvoice)
  
  
• 20GB Data Only - $35 (gvoice) Cricket (AT&T)
  
  
• 18GB + HS - $36.36
  
  
• 15GB HS incl. - $40.79
  
  
• 30GB + HS - $41.79

So, here I've bundled data + hotspot for tethering to the card for WIFI on the head unit / laptop / etc. $5 is the fee for these plans to add the feature

In comparison Tello has a deal listed below:
https://stacksocial.com/sales/tello-prepaid-3-month-plan-unlimited-talk-text-8gb-lte-data-free-sim
3 Months / 8GB - $49 + tax / GREEN20 - 20% / $42.43 (w/ tax)
FB15OFF - if you miss the GREEN20 (12/13)

Tello though long term is a bit pricier at some points. Though there's no $5 fee for HS access.
Their unlimited data plan @ $39 + Tax maxes at 25GB 4G LTE/5G which is where the Cricket play comes in above 20GB / all in @ $35.

I haven't played on ATT's network though in awhile and suspect they won't be as fast as TM. The data I could find for their speeds range from 30-150mbps depending on location.

The game here is data + speed on the cheap. If you have data you can make calls whether native or through an app. Like the 12GB vs 15GB plans above.... $1 difference gets you 3GB extra when they normally charge on average $1/GB w/ talk & text. or if you need to add mid-cycle 6B @ $20.

 

I did the stacksocial.com purchase listed above and it's a redemption code you can use immediately to setup a new account / or / possibly apply to an existing account for 3 months of service and with the new account it provides a free SIM which is $2 (sign up).

Once I figure out how much data I really need adjusting the plan is simple enough. There's also a Pay Go option for additional data during the billing cycle you can use for $20-$50
https://tello.com/buy/pay_as_you_go



This sort of option takes me back to the day of using a paygo sim in my car for NAV data and it was the cheapest option and only cost about $3/mo for map data / live traffic. The new head unit I installed is Android though which allows much more functionality than the OEM solution. The android unit is touchscreen and allows more apps to be used like Google Maps / Amazon Music / etc. The OEM had G-Maps but, they phased out support at the end of 2020 for live data. The modem in the car kind of sucks as well @ 3G speeds / also being phased out on TM / ATT in the next couple of months to make more room for LTE / 5G signals / bandwidth.

Anyway... I went into Tello and ordered the SIM / Plan as described in the listing. Should probably have the SIM in a couple of days if it's like US Mobile that has a regional warehouse that only takes 3 days to arrive.

 

Tello still says processing but, USPS shows a tracking number already coming from Nashville TN. Expected arrival 12/17

https://tello.com/account/register?_referral=P3GG4X9C

 

Since the SIM is marked shipped most of the provisioning info is filled in for a more complete overview of the account. The generation of the phone number is in place and ready to activate upon arrival. The extra account features are now filled in for viewing / setup.

Seems to be a lot of flexibility built into their system for plans. While not the most economical option I'm curious if you can go full pay as you go vs a pre made plan. Either way the 3 months 8gb @ $14.50 is a good deal at 50% off. It appears that there are offers like this frequently across different mediums. When the time is up there may be another promo going on for this sort of plan. If not the best option $30/mo would probably be US Mobile 15GB / Cricket 20GB and using Google Voice for the Voice / SMS side. These two options give a choice between T-Mobile / AT&T depending on your preference and the performance of either network in your location.

 

SIM is here and ready to be inserted. Conceivably it could have arrived yesterday if they had timed the transfer from the regional to the local office correctly. I have 2 more days of service on Mint at this point though and debating on an early switchover to make sure the porting goes through or gamble on the last day of service / cross my fingers. I had a delay when switching to Mint though for some reason of ~2 days but, this should be a simple 10-15 minutes when it goes right.

*Tello didn't include a SIM ejector but, since I have been doing this somewhat frequently I have a few of them laying around. Otherwise a paperclip would work as well.

 

Well, rather than risk locking my number to Mint after the current term expires I went ahead with the port in. It took all of about 2.5 seconds to move the number over and shutdown current Mint service. # didn't show up under settings / status until I did a reboot and then it showed up. Usually going into airplane mode for a period of time and then out of it will suffice.

You need a PIN to set a PW / change things and it's tied to the dummy number you get when you sign up. Well, since it was a redemption code and not a true sign up there wasn't one set. The system SMS's you the temp one when you request one so, the dummy number gets purged and your real number gets inserted on the site. Request / receive new PIN and go from there. Setup a PW or continue login with Google / Facebook / Apple to bypass setting another password.

I will say that SMS come through quickly. There seems to be a glitch with the phone app logging in with PW though through SSO w/ Google works fine and OTP SMS works fine as well. Seems to be a sync issue between the servers. The app on the phone also acts as a dialer / account management / etc. It's a bit of a twist from other provider's apps.

 

Been with Mint for five years and have been very satisfied. I recently purchased a Pixel 6 and get 5g, though I've in a rural area.

 

It's all about T-Mobile carrying the signal. At least for me.

Mint didn't have any downsides other than cost / long term buy in for lowest cost @ 12 months.

Tello goes monthly and there are some lucrative deals out there like 50% off first month if you go direct or deals like the 3 month plans through stack social w/ ~50% off depending on the code you use.

8GB @ $14.50 all inclusive is a damned good deal by comparison to any provider. Thinking beyond the initial period / discounts I'm pondering the value of higher data plans "unlimitedness" 25-35GB seems to be the threshold for most MVNO options using TM's network.

I can always find a use for more data or I can give myself an allowance for certain uses. Tello kind of falls in the middle with 8GB w/ the option to add more w/ Pay GO billing.

 

^^^ Interesting, those prices in the US !?! Someone makes loads of money...

Compare to France, linked example 200 GB, 10 euros (like 11 usd) during 12 months. Towards the end of such a deal period, people starts looking for some other provider's splendid offer (appearing constantly, battle to the death among providers), do a switch, keeping the number.
https://www.cdiscount.com/cdiscountmobile#cm_sp=headerniveau1:pagepromo

Got a work phone with French provider, 200 GB, free tel\sms, 2 sims, 32 euros. That specific plan's big + is travel usage outside of France > 50 GB roaming data, free tel\sms to\from all EU, USA, Canada, China & more.

 

Yeah, I see better deals in markets outside of the US. Tello though is somewhat comparable when it comes to international features / options. The problem with 3-4 big carriers / networks is the lack of working together like the EU. The other issue is the base plans with the big companies start ~$60/mo and the MVNO's can go as low as $5/mo with very little data attached to them. Most options for data top off at 75GB / $100mo for a single line. Fixed Wireless though through TM / VZW are unlimited but, the speeds are all over the place for "fixed" use. I the market were a little more transparent / competitive mobile data should be a bit more competitive.

2 of the 3 are still trying to figure out how to break the 100mbps barrier it seems while TM is able to hit 600/100 w/o using some "test" handset. VZW using a "test" phone in a particular location is able to hit 1gbps speeds but uses different wavelengths to achieve it.

The biggest issue is people being lulled into getting a free phone but paying out the butt for service for 2-3 years for the "credits" on the phone. The plans they need to sign up for are ~$100/mo for which they could be paying 1/3 of that for service or less if they just paid in full for the phone. Now that CDMA / 2G / 3G are all being shutdown that leaves VoLTE/5G for V&D. The only remaining difference is VZW & ATT with mmWave UWB. TM figured out low band meant more coverage / faster speeds to more people and then can work on the high band / ultra speeds while the other 2 catch up.

 

If it wasn't for Tmo we all would be on those ghetto plans and since I switched to Tmo many yrs ago I haven't looked at other providers ever again.

 

There are definitely some suspect "plans" out there. I've been on and off with TM since ~2000. I've had jobs that provide phone service though and it doesn't make sense to pay for something you're getting for free through work. I've worked on several of the networks over the years and sometimes the in house handsets make things look great. When I was working on VZW's network a few years back one of the engineers I was working with on a site for a couple of days was pulling 4G speeds ~100mbps and I had a VZW handset as well through my company but didn't get such speeds.

When I worked for TM directly around the office I would see those 100mbps speeds but, that's because we had small cells throughout the building for engineering tests.

More recently when thinking about / using Visible I went into a store to see if they would let me test with one of their SIM cards to rule out some slow speeds I was seeing they mentioned they also has a small cell in the store for better speeds / signal when demoing phones. Being in the store with a Visible sim in my phone (VZW knock off / owned) I still got sub par speeds. In a different part of town I got really bad speeds 1-2mbps and had to jump on the store's WIFI to get anything to load. I swapped my SIM into a VZW Pixel and still got the same speeds.

MVNO or not typically you'll see the same performance between the brand name and the off brand. More so with GSM based networks i.e. ATT / TM seem to play more fair with sub-brands. Metering / throttling tend to be less of an issue as it makes the parent brand look bad in consumer's eyes. If VZW is the alleged biggest / best then why skimp on the sub-brands? Obviously they need to maintain their "brand" but, they're losing out on sustained revenue from the MVNO brands. One MVNO mentioned up to 250mbps DL speeds for their VZW SIM option and it tested just as bad as Visible.

I highly doubt the subscriber counts on the particular cell site I'm mostly connected to are all that high or I wouldn't get a signal for Voice. De-prioritization would impact both data and voice depending on the ratio implemented on the site profile. Sometimes it's the handset, sometimes it's the service. The handset is capable of all bands either side is using for services and does work on both CDMA/GSM voice networks. Soon though both of those will be going away to use LTE / 5G and increase the speeds / coverage when shuffling spectrum around after cleaning things up a bit.

 

So, I did some more digging around even though I still have a couple more months with Tello locked in at an absurdly low price for 8GB of data and found some contenders to go longer term.

Hello - $25 unlimited everything including data. This wouldn't show up under my criteria for hotspot to tether to things because it's normally $15/mo more to tether. I ran across some posts / reviews that the add-on isn't required to get it working. If that's the case then this is the best deal in town for data.

Then looking at bundles of more than a monthly plan such as 3/6/12 periods I found a fairly straight forward breakdown of costs / plans @ https://bestmvno.com/compare/multi-month-plans/

$40/mo w/ Hello beats the soft/hard cap offers at this price point considerably. TM MVNO plans typically cap data in the 25-35GB/mo range per their agreements with TM It looks like Ultra goes as high as 60GB/mo @ $56/mo.