Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts about American cellular carriers in response to my question. From those initial answers, I was able to do some additional research. I have always enjoyed getting into the weeds with all things phone-related, so this has been fun.
I thought I would pay it forward by posting here about my conclusions in case there are others interested, and of course others may have experiences to share.
I am going to start with US Mobile, and see how it goes. There are two reasons for my choice. First, US Mobile is an MVNO, (mobile virtual network operator). Earlier this year, they became known as a "super carrier", and have access to all three major US networks, AT&T which they call dark Star, T-Mobile which they call Light Speed, and Verizon Wireless which they call Warp. This is a bit confusing if you sign up without knowing the nicknames, but I imagine that they're prohibited from using the actual network names for branding/trademark reasons.
When you are a US Mobile customer, you can switch between the three carriers. There will be some limitations around the switch depending on your plan, and I'll come back to those. This is attractive for me as someone who likes to geek out on these things, because I can switch from time to time to conduct testing, without the need to keep porting my number. There are also practical benefits. If you're going somewhere a little off the beaten path, and you know that, for example, Verizon gives better service, you can switch.
One thing to note though is that if you have an Apple Watch and want cellular service for it, you're going to be locked into Verizon because that's the only network where US Cellular can provide Apple Watch Cellular support. But they can do it via an individual number for your Watch or a companion plan for your existing smartphone number.
Switching carriers is not as simple as choosing the network in the user interface of your phone. You have to use the US Mobile website for this task and it can take a few minutes before the switch is actioned.
My second reason for starting with US Mobile is the customer service. It gets praised highly, and in my experience, justifiably so. I sent them a couple of emails last night and they replied with meaningful responses within minutes. They are also on Reddit, with an active subreddit with multiple staff responding to inquiries. They have no physical stores, and that suits me just fine. I would far rather deal with good support at home than go into a noisy store.
I am not particularly driven by price, but the plans are attractive. They have some very good plans for those on a budget, for just a few dollars per month. Their Unlimited Starter plan is just $25 if you pay by the month. This gives you 35GB of full speed data before they slow you down. If you want to crank it up further, Unlimited Premium gives you 100GB of full-speed data before slowing you down, for $44 per month.
If you're in a position to pay for a full year, it gets even more attractive. The 100GB plan averages out at $32 per month, which is pretty sweet. The Unlimited Starter only gives you two network transfers, not just per cycle, but forever. After that, they'll charge you $2 every time you do a network transfer, and there is a limit per month. Unlimited Premium give you unlimited network transfers. Unlimited Starter limits you to 10GB of hotspot data, it's 50GB on Unlimited Premium. Both come with an Apple Watch plan as part of the plan.
There are roaming and international calling options as well.
They offer WiFi calling, which means you can call anywhere in the world as if you were at home as long as you are connected to WiFi, but you do have to be in the US to activate WiFi calling, so if you are about to travel, be sure you've switched it on before you leave. This is great though, because I arrive in the US on Friday but will be home for Christmas, by which time I can use my US number as if I were still there.
I haven't found anything I want to do with the iOS app that I can't, but it's not a super accessible experience. Many controls aren't described as actionable, so you have to guess from the context where you should double-tap to activate. On a couple of occasions, I did have to resort to enabling screen recognition. Nevertheless, I was able to sign up online, set up two factor authentication, and install the eSIM all from within the app.
Of course the real test will be when I am in the US later in the coming week, but it's been a very good experience so far.
If you would like to use my referral link for US Mobile so we both benefit, it is below.
Your friend Jonathan is inviting you to join US Mobile! Join our wireless revolution now and get 30 days free when you transfer your number. usmobile.com/referrals?referreβ¦
I thought I would pay it forward by posting here about my conclusions in case there are others interested, and of course others may have experiences to share.
I am going to start with US Mobile, and see how it goes. There are two reasons for my choice. First, US Mobile is an MVNO, (mobile virtual network operator). Earlier this year, they became known as a "super carrier", and have access to all three major US networks, AT&T which they call dark Star, T-Mobile which they call Light Speed, and Verizon Wireless which they call Warp. This is a bit confusing if you sign up without knowing the nicknames, but I imagine that they're prohibited from using the actual network names for branding/trademark reasons.
When you are a US Mobile customer, you can switch between the three carriers. There will be some limitations around the switch depending on your plan, and I'll come back to those. This is attractive for me as someone who likes to geek out on these things, because I can switch from time to time to conduct testing, without the need to keep porting my number. There are also practical benefits. If you're going somewhere a little off the beaten path, and you know that, for example, Verizon gives better service, you can switch.
One thing to note though is that if you have an Apple Watch and want cellular service for it, you're going to be locked into Verizon because that's the only network where US Cellular can provide Apple Watch Cellular support. But they can do it via an individual number for your Watch or a companion plan for your existing smartphone number.
Switching carriers is not as simple as choosing the network in the user interface of your phone. You have to use the US Mobile website for this task and it can take a few minutes before the switch is actioned.
My second reason for starting with US Mobile is the customer service. It gets praised highly, and in my experience, justifiably so. I sent them a couple of emails last night and they replied with meaningful responses within minutes. They are also on Reddit, with an active subreddit with multiple staff responding to inquiries. They have no physical stores, and that suits me just fine. I would far rather deal with good support at home than go into a noisy store.
I am not particularly driven by price, but the plans are attractive. They have some very good plans for those on a budget, for just a few dollars per month. Their Unlimited Starter plan is just $25 if you pay by the month. This gives you 35GB of full speed data before they slow you down. If you want to crank it up further, Unlimited Premium gives you 100GB of full-speed data before slowing you down, for $44 per month.
If you're in a position to pay for a full year, it gets even more attractive. The 100GB plan averages out at $32 per month, which is pretty sweet. The Unlimited Starter only gives you two network transfers, not just per cycle, but forever. After that, they'll charge you $2 every time you do a network transfer, and there is a limit per month. Unlimited Premium give you unlimited network transfers. Unlimited Starter limits you to 10GB of hotspot data, it's 50GB on Unlimited Premium. Both come with an Apple Watch plan as part of the plan.
There are roaming and international calling options as well.
They offer WiFi calling, which means you can call anywhere in the world as if you were at home as long as you are connected to WiFi, but you do have to be in the US to activate WiFi calling, so if you are about to travel, be sure you've switched it on before you leave. This is great though, because I arrive in the US on Friday but will be home for Christmas, by which time I can use my US number as if I were still there.
I haven't found anything I want to do with the iOS app that I can't, but it's not a super accessible experience. Many controls aren't described as actionable, so you have to guess from the context where you should double-tap to activate. On a couple of occasions, I did have to resort to enabling screen recognition. Nevertheless, I was able to sign up online, set up two factor authentication, and install the eSIM all from within the app.
Of course the real test will be when I am in the US later in the coming week, but it's been a very good experience so far.
If you would like to use my referral link for US Mobile so we both benefit, it is below.
Your friend Jonathan is inviting you to join US Mobile! Join our wireless revolution now and get 30 days free when you transfer your number. usmobile.com/referrals?referreβ¦
Friends Invite Friends to Join US Mobile
Get $25 for every friend who tries US Mobile. Friends get 30 Days Free with 30 GB of data, unlimited talk & text, and more!www.usmobile.com
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