Anyone ever used it? The Rick Moranis thing caught my eye. Their plans are priced much better than AT&T, that's for sure. It looks like it runs on the T-Mobile network.
It's been alright in Austin. Only issues I've had is the LTE gets throttled at popular times in popular areas (eg lunch time, concerts/events) that I'd have to use local WiFis. Other than that, the speed and calls are good on T-Mobile's network. Been on it for about a year and a half.
There's a bunch of different network resellers (also known as "Mobile Virtual Network Operators" or MVNO's) in addition to Mint Mobile. If you're happy with your current AT&T network signal where you live, I'd recommend sticking with an AT&T MVNO unless you're in a densely populated area where every major carrier has good signal. I live in downtown Austin and I switched from AT&T to Spectrum Mobile (on Verizon network) without complaint 98%+ of the time. Price is obviously the biggest pro for using an MVNO. Not only are the plans cheaper but most are tax/fee inclusive. My unlimited Spectrum Mobile plan is $45/month and I pay exactly $45/month. The drawbacks are usually some combo of: - Throttling. As Duncan said, in busy times, cell phones on MVNO plans can get throttled in favor of the major carrier's customers. It can sometimes be difficult to make a call, send a text or call an Uber when you're at a concert/sporting event. - Data speed caps: some MVNO plans cap the speed of your data. So while the major carrier customers get the full benefits of 4G/LTE, the MVNO's are often hard capped at a lower speed. Furthermore, a lot of MVNO's limit streaming (e.g. youtube/netflix) to 480p while the major carriers will allow 1080P or greater. - Hotspot: some MVNO plans don’t allow hot-spotting. I find it super convenient to have a couple of gig’s of hotspot data in my plan so I can tether my laptop to my phone while traveling instead of joining random public WiFi networks. This was important for me. - WiFi calling: some MVNO's don't have Wifi calling possible in their plans. This was super crucial for me. I work in monolithic hospital buildings and usually the signal for every carrier sucks down in the depths. I hop on the WiFi and everything's gravy again. - Roaming: not sure if this is a consequence of Verizon vs AT&T or specific to my Spectrum Mobile service but the roaming out in New Braunfels/San Marcos is garbage. I think the major carriers have better roaming than their resellers. - Customer service: usually total crap. I fortunately haven't had any CS issues but if you do have a problem it’s often harder to reach a resolution than with the major carriers (who have large/expensive customer service teams). Another option: most major carriers have cheaper pre-paid plans that are similar MVNO's. They have some of the above-mentioned drawbacks but are usually a decent bit cheaper than the traditional post-paid plans.
So I switched for 3 months. I am very underwhelmed I am dropping call. Text are failing to send or receive Overall everything appears slower The signal never appears to be strong. I think I read that basically its the T-Mobile network BUT It's a secondary priority on the network meaning that TMobile direct users get a higher priority so you get bumped. . .which explains alot of the issues I have been having I've reset the network settings etc like 4~5 times Rocket River
I've had it for about 9 months. No substantial issues, but there have been a few texts that were delayed. It maybe happens once a month. Hasn't been a problem for me (or the Mrs, who also uses Mint). That said, once my deal runs out with them, if they don't continue to give me service for $15/mo, I'll probably switch to US Mobile. Seems to have a good reputation among MVNOs and is cheap.
Yeah just the price. I just move service providers to save money. IIRC, Mint usually lets you keep the same price for your second contract, so if I can stay at $15/mo then I'll do that, but otherwise I'll jump ship.
Any GoogleFi users out there? They use other's networks (Verizon/At&T..etc.). Maybe not the cheapest, but had it for a few years now, no complaints.
So your entire bill for the month is $15? I've seen the commercials but assumed there were "fees" that would jack it up. I am on AT&T and its $100 just for service, I own my phone and if my company wasn't paying for it I would be shopping it. I went to Verizon when the new iPhone came out where they state they give you a free phone which they do but you sign a 3-year contract and like $25 a month is for the phone, so technically they give you the phone up front but you still pay for it and you get a nice 3 year contract........that was $100 a month.
Well actually, I've never paid Mint anything for a monthly payment. They had a deal back in November where for ~$360 you get a new Pixel 7 Pro and 12 months of service. So I'm still just riding that out. My wife was on a 6-month deal with them that also started in November (she brought an iPhone so she didn't do the Pixel deal I did). It obviously expired a few months ago and she had an offer to keep her current plan at $15/mo, but I haven't looked at her bill to see if there's any bullshit fees on top of it. I'll ask her later and see if I can take a look at the actual bill.
