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Why I’m Using Mint Mobile Cell Phone Service
Full Disclosure: The Mint Mobile affiliate links contained in this article may result in a commission awarded to TROYPOINT at not extra cost to you.
I’ve been operating the TROYPOINT Website since 2009 and during that time I’ve never promoted a mobile service because in my opinion, they were all bad. Please note the word “were” in the previous sentence.
Over the years, I’ve received numerous affiliate offers from the big players in the mobile space but couldn’t promote something that I didn’t personally like. It’s hard to like any mobile service in my opinion as they all have their weaknesses.
My biggest pain points have been high prices, slow download speed, and bad coverage. Let’s face it, what else is important when searching for a mobile service provider?
I’ve been using Mint Mobile for the past six months and I’ve finally found a service that I really like and can recommend to friends, family, and TROYPOINT fans. Yeah, it took me 14 years to find a service that I’m excited to promote and I’m happy that I waited!
Table of Contents
- My Cell Phone Service Timeline
- Mint Mobile Service Features at a Glance
- Mint Mobile Download Speed
- Mint Mobile Coverage
- Mint Mobile On-boarding
- Mint Mobile Pricing
- TROYPOINT Tip: Start With Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan
- Bring Your Own Phone
- Refer a Friend Program
- What I Don’t Like About Mint Mobile
- I’m Glad I Switched to Mint Mobile
My Cell Phone Service Timeline
During the past 14 years, I’ve had the opportunity to test over a dozen cell phone services due to partnership offers. Some of them I personally used for a long period of time because I somewhat liked them and wanted to test further. But, with all of them, as time went on, I quickly became disgruntled.
US Cellular
My first phone carrier was US Cellular but this was back in the day when roaming charges still existed.
US Cellular served my needs but the roaming charges ultimately made me cancel the service.
The coverage wasn’t ideal either and I encountered a lot of dead spots.
Verizon Wireless
I then moved onto Verizon Wireless because they offered unlimited calling and text with no roaming charges.
The problem with Verizon were the high prices. I didn’t like how Verizon nickled and dimed me for every feature that I needed such as mobile tethering. I saw lots of advertisements for the smaller carriers and the huge price savings that came along with them and was interested in trying them.
Cricket Wireless
I switched to Cricket Wireless after being presented with an affiliate partnership and I was extremely happy with their low prices. I never promoted Cricket Wireless due to one big issue.
The problem with Cricket is that I could never get download speeds higher than 2-5 Mbps! Yeah, it was cheap but there was no way I could promote a service that offered such slow speeds, especially due to the fact that many TROYPOINT fans want to stream movies and TV shows on their mobile devices.
Services such as Cricket Wireless purchase cell access from bigger providers and in this case, they use the AT&T network. They can sell these services for less money because they are de-prioritized. This means that speed will usually suffer, and when in an area of congestion, you will be on the lowest rung of the ladder to get service.
Verizon Wireless Again
I had to leave Cricket Wireless because I couldn’t live with the slow download speeds any longer so I went back to Verizon as they were the fastest service that I had used in the past.
My biggest complaint with Verizon was that I had a lot of “no-service” areas when traveling to my frequent visited locations.
I thought to myself, “Why am I paying this premium price when I can’t even use the service in areas where I need it most?”
After leaving Cricket Wireless I vowed to never use a discounted service again but that changed after leaving Verizon Wireless for the second time.
Mint Mobile
Earlier this year Mint Mobile reached out and offered an affiliate partnership with TROYPOINT.
At this time I was extremely dissatisfied with Verizon Wireless so I tested Mint Mobile on an extra phone that I had laying around.
Six months later, I’m still using Mint Mobile and I’m extremely happy with the service and the price that I’m paying for it.
Below, I will provide a review on the features, and pricing, along with a TROYPOINT Tip for choosing the right plan for you.
Mint Mobile Service Features at a Glance
- Low Price
- 5G & 4G LTE Coverage
- Blazing Fast Download Speeds
- Excellent Coverage
- Individual and Family Plans
- Bring Your Own Phone or Buy from Mint Mobile
- International Calling
- International Roaming
- WiFi Calling & Text
- Mobile Hotspot
- eSIM & SIM Support
- Refer a Friend Program
Mint Mobile Download Speed
This was my biggest gripe with Cricket Wireless and I highly anticipated the same with Mint Mobile because it was a discounted service using the T-Mobile Network. I would be happy if I got 10 Mbps download speed.
I was blown away by looking at my download speed after putting this new service on my spare phone!
In my home city, I was averaging 60 Mbps download speed which is more than enough to stream 4K content. Wow, I was shocked! I had tested many other discounted services in the past and they all offered lousy download speed.
My next question was download speed while traveling. Again, this is why I ultimately left Verizon Wireless.
I went on a personal trip to Wisconsin and during that time I tested my download speeds in multiple locations spread among a 4-hour trip which you will find below.
Note: Mint Mobile is capable of 5G and 4G LTE. The following tests were done on my phone that doesn’t support 5G so download speed may actually be higher on those types of devices.
Speed Test #1
Speed Test #2
Speed Test #3
I’m absolutely thrilled with the download speed that Mint Mobile has to offer when I’m at home or on the road.
Get Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan for $15/Mo
Mint Mobile Coverage
What works for me and my location might not work for you.
It’s extremely important to look at the Mint Mobile coverage map on their Website prior to registering.
I can’t stress how important this is. You must live in an area of coverage that you can find on their map which is available on the Mint Mobile Website. Please don’t complain that you have slow speeds when you don’t do the proper research prior to purchasing.
Obviously, you want to ensure that there is coverage where you live but you also want coverage where you frequently travel as well. As I mentioned earlier, Mint Mobile uses the T-Mobile network so you’re getting the same coverage that they offer which is very strong.
Mint Mobile On-boarding
As mentioned earlier, when I first started using Mint Mobile, I wasn’t using it on my primary phone. I first tested it on my older phone that didn’t have an eSIM option so when I registered, they sent me a physical 3-in-1 SIM kit. I followed the instructions for activating and it took less than 10 minutes. I didn’t need to chat with their customer support which made it that much better.
Even though Mint Mobile is a 100% Internet-based business, you can still contact a human being at 800-683-7392 if you need any hep along the way.
It’s important to note that Mint Mobile is an online business and there are no physical locations. This is why they can offer their cell service at such a discounted price…less overhead. Due to the on-boarding technology that Mint has implemented, you can activate your phone quickly with their easy-to-understand instructions.
Once I decided to use the service on my main phone, it was simple to transfer. My current phone is a Google Pixel 7 Pro and it is equipped with an eSIM so I didn’t need a physical card to setup that device.
Mint Mobile Pricing
There’s no funny business when it comes to Mint Mobile pricing and this is something that I really like.
Mint Mobile offers both individual and family plans. For the sake of simplicity, I will be covering the individual plans but keep in mind that when you bundle with a family plan you will save more money.
Unlimited Plan
They are currently running a promotion where you can get their unlimited plan for only $15/month for the first three months. After the first three months, you have the option to renew at three different price points.
Unlimited Plan
First 3 Months = $15/month Subtotal $45
After first 3 months
- 3 Month at $40 per month
- 6 Month at $35 per month
- 12 Month BEST VALUE at $30 per month
Includes
- Unlimited Nationwide Talk & Text
- Data speeds reduce after 40GB but data is unlimited
- 3-in-1 SIM Card Kit or eSIM (for eligible devices)
- FREE international calls to Mexico and Canada
- 10GB Mobile Hotspot
- WiFi Calling & Text
- With their BYOP program, bring your own unlocked 4G LTE and VoLTE-friendly phone (you love it, cracks and all)
For those people who only use their phones for calls and texting, they can really save a ton of money compared to the other carriers. This is where Mint Mobile truly shines.
Here’s a breakdown of pricing for their other three plans.
20GB/MO Plan
First 3 Months = $15/month Subtotal $45
After first 3 months
- 3 Month at $45 per month
- 6 Month at $35 per month
- 12 Month BEST VALUE at $25 per month
Includes
- Unlimited Nationwide Talk & Text
- 20GB of 5G • 4G LTE per month
- 3-in-1 SIM Card Kit or eSIM (for eligible devices)
- FREE international calls to Mexico and Canada
- FREE Mobile HotSpot
- WiFi Calling & Text
- Data speeds reduce after 20GB but data is unlimited
- With their BYOP program, bring your own unlocked 4G LTE and VoLTE-friendly phone (you love it, cracks and all)
15GB/MO Plan
First 3 Months = $15/month Subtotal $45
After first 3 months
- 3 Month at $35 per month
- 6 Month at $25 per month
- 12 Month BEST VALUE at $20 per month
Includes
- Unlimited Nationwide Talk & Text
- 15GB of 5G • 4G LTE per month
- 3-in-1 SIM Card Kit or eSIM (for eligible devices)
- FREE international calls to Mexico and Canada
- FREE Mobile HotSpot
- WiFi Calling & Text
- Data speeds reduce after 15GB but data is unlimited
- With their BYOP program, bring your own unlocked 4G LTE and VoLTE-friendly phone (you love it, cracks and all)
5GB/MO Plan
First 3 Months = $15/month Subtotal $45
After first 3 months
- 3 Month at $25 per month
- 6 Month at $20 per month
- 12 Month BEST VALUE at $15 per month
Includes
- Unlimited Nationwide Talk & Text
- 5GB of 5G • 4G LTE per month
- 3-in-1 SIM Card Kit or eSIM (for eligible devices)
- FREE international calls to Mexico and Canada
- FREE Mobile HotSpot
- WiFi Calling & Text
- Data speeds reduce after 5GB but data is unlimited
- With their BYOP program, bring your own unlocked 4G LTE and VoLTE-friendly phone (you love it, cracks and all)
Get Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan for $15/Mo
Data Speeds Reduce After Meeting Quota But Data Is Unlimited
You will notice that all three plans include unlimited data. Example: the 5GB plan advertises that data speeds are reduced after 5GB but data is unlimited. Although it is unlimited, the speed is diminished so much that the service will basically become unusable.
I chatted with Mint Mobile support and asked what typical download/upload speeds would be once quotas are reached and here is the reply.
Download speeds: Typically between 9 – 47 Mbps, with minimum expected speeds of less than 0.1 Mbps.
Upload speeds: Typically between 4 – 20 Mbps, with minimum expected speeds of less than 0.1 Mbps.
Latency: Typically between 30 – 50 ms.
As you can see they indicate download speeds of less than 0.1 Mbps after meeting the quota which is basically nothing.
It’s important to note that you aren’t charged any overage fees when going over your quota, it just slows down.
You also have the option of immediately upgrading your account which will add additional data allowance.
TROYPOINT Tip: Start With Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan
I strongly suggest starting with the Unlimited Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan as you can switch to a lower tier after the first three months. With the current promotion, the introductory 3-month price is the same for all three plans.
By doing this, you can easily monitor how much data that you use on a regular basis. You will see within your account on the Mint Mobile Website or in their app how much data you have currently used. Keep an eye on this for the first three months then change your plan to a lower tier and save money!
Mint Mobile offers the opportunity for you to easily change service plans with a few clicks.
Mint Mobile’s mobile app and online account user interface is simple to use and there are no hidden tricks.
Get Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan for $15/Mo
Bring Your Own Phone
Some wireless phone companies require you to buy a phone from them but that’s not the case with Mint Mobile!
The Mint Mobile Website offers a phone compatibility tool to ensure that your current phone will work on their network.
It’s simple to use. You can either input your phone and model or type in your phone’s IMEI number and you will quickly see if your phone is compatible.
Refer a Friend Program
I’ve already mentioned the low prices that Mint Mobile has to offer but it can get even cheaper with the Refer a Friend Program.
Once you become a Mint Mobile subscriber you can bring your family and friends on board and earn service credit by doing so!
Here’s how it works.
1. Get the word out
Send your referral link to a friend (so you’ll get your credit and they get their $15 in credit)
2. Wait for your friend to activate their plan
3. Receive Mint Mobile Credit
- 5GB plan, you get $45 in credit
- 15GB plan, you get $60 in credit
- 20GB plan, you get $75 in credit
- Unlimited plan, you get $90 in credit
Credit can only be applied to plan renewal
Get Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan for $15/Mo
How Can Mint Mobile Can Charge So Much Less?
Here’s a video where popular actor, Ryan Reynolds explains this.
Note: Ryan has sold his portion of Mint Mobile but continues as spokesperson for the company.
What I Don’t Like About Mint Mobile
As I explained earlier, these discounted cell providers purchase service from the big players at a discount. In Mint Mobile’s case, they purchase their service from T-Mobile. In return, those on the discounted Mint Mobile service are de-prioritized.
De-prioritization is the temporary slowing of your data speeds during times of network congestion. This means that if there is an overwhelming amount of traffic in an area where you’re located, those on T-Mobile will get the better service before Mint Mobile customers.
I can personally live with this because if I’m in an area such as a football game, concert, etc. I should be enjoying the event instead of wasting time on my phone. We all need to put the phones down and enjoy life a little more in my opinion. Any time away from my phone is good!
During the six months of service with Mint Mobile, I haven’t seen any big problems regarding de-prioritization but again, this could be different based on the locations where you use the service.
I’m Glad I Switched to Mint Mobile
In closing, I’m extremely happy with Mint Mobile.
Yes, they are a discounted cell service but I don’t get the slow download speeds and “no service available” problems like I did with the others.
In my experience, when compared to Verizon, I get better speeds and better reception in places that I travel on a frequent basis. This might not be the case for everyone and that’s why I recommend looking at the coverage map on the Mint Mobile Website prior to placing an order.
Many cell services rope their customers into long-term contracts but as you can see in this article, that’s not the case with Mint Mobile. You can easily change your plan at anytime. They also provide a snapshot of data consumed so you can downgrade your account and save money if data isn’t needed. Millions of people pay outrageous prices for unlimited mobile phone services when it’s not needed. Mint Mobile allows its customers to pick a data plan that’s tailored to them and save money while doing so.
I hope that my experience with Mint Mobile is similar to yours where you save money and enjoy faster speeds with better coverage as well.
Get Mint Mobile Unlimited Plan for $15/Mo
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I’m a happy Mint mobile customer.
I see they use T-Mobile service. Is that the same as AT&T? The reason I ask is that, even with 4G and 5G, the frequency bands are slightly different. So a Verizon phone on an AT&T network will work but not on all of the available frequencies (and vice versa). I have Verizon iPhones so I’d loose a couple of frequency bands if I switched to AT&T service.
Yeah, I happily switched from T-Mobile to Mint over a year ago for the price savings with no loss of call service or quality.
I have tried Mint Mobile, but i did not like their service. My calls kept getting dropped, i had poor cell service with them. Also they were really slow compared to verizon which i had before i tried mint mobile. I loved rhe speed on verizon, but like you said Troy, i didnt like the prices. So i found a sevice that is owned by verizon called Visible. They have almost the same speeds as verizon. They do use the verizon towers since they are owned by verizon. I get great 5g service. Another thing i love is the unlimited hotspot that is included. I only pay $25/month. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than the same plan i had with verizon.
I recently got the T-Mobile home internet service and for the most part I am very happy with it. It is almost $40 cheaper than I was paying for xfinity internet only and much faster. But for some reason, at random times, the service drops off or slows drastically. Most of the time the speeds are between 300-400mbps but have gone as high as mid 400’s. However, at least several times a day it drops to lower then 20mbps, the lowest being .39mbps and several times the service has been nonexistent for 1 to 15 minutes at a time. I have a tower .8 miles from my home, so there really is no excuse for the drastic inconsistencies. I did contact the company and they had me go to a store and change our the gateway which did improve the situation but the above info is with the new gateway. I have been using Cricket for about a year and had considered Mint but after this experience with T-Mobile, I can’t switch to Mint.
I have been with Mint for over a year and have not had an issue. Great service and a great price. Fully recommend.
I looked into the discount carriers a decade ago and went with PagePlus Cellular on the advice of the father in law. He lived in the Mountains of Colorado where Verizon is the only service that works well, thus Page Plus uses Verizon towers. We are flatlanders, living fairly close to Troy, but I’ve had excellent coverage with Page Plus/Verizon.
Once you get past the intro prices, it seems all these discounted carriers such as Page Plus and Consumer Cellular have similar prices. We pay $27 month to month for 20 gb data for example. It really depends on coverage (where you live) and download speeds since the prices are similar for discount carriers. Mint sounds like a good one.
I wish I could use them. Tmobile network is very bad where I live. The only thing that works here is Verizon, so I am now using Tracfone, which is owned by Verizon . It works well for me and a lot cheaper than Verizon. I hope Tmobile puts more towers up in my area then I will switch.
I would LOVE to use Mint Mobile, but living in Canada, we have limited choice of service (Rogers, Bell, Telus, Koodo, etc) and if you didn’t already know, Canada has the HIGHEST cell phone rates in the world. Ironic part of this is the owner of Mint Mobile, Ryan Reynolds, is Canadian, yet we can’t get Mint Mobile here in Canada. Why? Because the Canadian government won’t allow Mint to operate here. Nice, eh? We’re currently lobbying our parliamentary members to see if that will change. Any shoutout from Troypoint to help this happen would be appreciated. Cheers Homer
I’m confused and maybe I didn’t look closely enough but I have two 5G phones from TMobile with unlimited data, voice, and text for $35 each per month or $70 total with no monthly contract. I didn’t see anything from Mint with cheaper monthly rates except teaser rates that expire in 3 months.
So if Mint is piggybacking on TMobile’s network and has to sit at the back of the bus when it comes to bandwidth why would I consider switching especially when I didn’t see any monthly rates cheaper than Tmobile?
Hello, Mint’s biggest selling point is that many people don’t need unlimited and that’s why in the article I suggest monitoring your usage with their tool that comes with your account. Their main sell is that lots of people can get by on the 5GB plan that costs only 15 bucks. Obviously that’s not the case for people who stream, etc. but many only use their phones for calls, text, and browsing.
The only non-starter for me is, that I have 3 phones and two wearbles on my current plan. As of now, Mint doesn’t offer connections for wearbles. Sure, I could use my watch on Wi-Fi or tether, but sometimes I forget to take my phone, or just don’t want to, and I can still call and text with my Samsung watch. What’s odd to me, is that watches use e-sims, and they have the e-sim option for phones, so how difficult could it really be? I’d consider switching, but I’m not going to move 3 phones and then have 2 watches with another provider.
Are you sure that hotspot has unlimited data? You’re the second person I’ve heard of referring to this lately but haven’t seen where it is offered within any type of affordable plan.
This is what I see with the normal plans.
Visible includes mobile hotspot with unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps, limited to one device. After 50GB, when the network is experiencing heavy traffic, your data may be temporarily slowed. (I’ve heard way down to speeds like 128k, don’t know if this is true)
We winter in Florida, live in Canada, and we use Mint mobile as our USA cell phone.
Normally Mint has Black Friday deals on their service. You pay $45 for 3 months and they give you an extra 3 months free… That’s 6 months for $45…
You can also pick up your Mint prepaid cards and sim cards at any Best Buy in USA.
We have had no issues using it from the Maine border to Florida
I would love to switch but I would lose cellular for our two Apple watches.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Mike
Tracfon here. $7 per month. Or get new phone with a year service for about$120
The 50gb data limit is only for the $45 plan. The $25 plan does not offer premium data. If you only have regular 5G or 4G lte then you use that 50gb of premium data. But if your phone cennects to verizon 5G ultra wide network (5GUW) it is unlimited premium data as long as you are connected to the ultra wide network. I only once used all of the 50gb on the regular 5G and my data didnt really slow down much. On the hot spot, my hot spot speed has been between 35-45mbps down when i am connected to the 5G network. And yes the hotspot is truly unlimted. Last month i used 100gb of hot spot with no problems. The $25 just has truly unlimited regular data. Which still has great speeds. The hot spot is the same no matter what plan you have. Let me know if you have any more questions about visible. I will try to answer them. I have been with visible four 3 years now. Also if you want to try visible i can get you $20 off your first month bill via the code: 3PRBTFR. That code does not expire. And you can share it with anyone if you want to.
Biggest drawback for me is Mint does not support wearables! Meaning if you have an Apple Watch you can’t activate the cellular function and must have your phone with you to tether to your watch. All these 2nd tier services have compromises. Yes they are cheaper, but the question is what are you willing to sacrifice. I to have had several different mobile plans from the big three to 2nd tier. There is no one plan that fits all. I now have T-Mobile and have an unlimited plan locked in with a guarantee of no price increase or fees for $50 + $10 for my Apple Watch activation. I also can get a new phone every couple years hugely discounted if I need one. Though I hold on to my phones much longer than I use to.
My girlfriend uses Visible but has a limited amount of data on her hotspot. I was just curious what your plan was. If the 50GB limit is only for the $45 plan and the $25 plan does not offer premium data, then what would a person with a single line pay for a plan that has a mobile hotspot with truly unlimited data?
So, can I just take out the SIM card in my Verizon iPhone 8 and replace it with the Mint SIM card? That would be a great way of checking the service out without losing my Verizon account if I don’t like it!
In my rural city, T-mobile has the worst coverage, so I’ve never used them, but I’ve used AT&T, Verizon and their MVNOs. Verizon doesn’t have 5g in most rural areas, so speeds are slow - very slow. AT&T has great speeds in the 5g areas, which my rural city has. I’m currently using Cricket, because they are a subsidiary of AT&T and have the same great speeds (I’m usually getting anywhere from 50 mbs to 300 mbs - and it’s almost always on the higher end. And on their best unlimited plan it’s not deprioritized, and the data is truly unlimited - NO CAPS! I have 4 lines, which gives me the cost of about $33/month per line. That can’t be beat for price or service where I’m located.
I’ve been using AT&T for over 30 years but my wife and I have been thinking about switching for a couple of years now. Mint looks very promising.
What carrier/network does Mint use?
You can, but only if your phone is unlocked and not locked to a specific carrier.
Had Mint for a year. Mistakenly bought a full year at a good price. That year was the absolute worst. Many dead spots. I knew T-Mobile was spotty in my area and for some reason I thought Mint would be better even though they are on the same network. I stayed with it since I paid and they don’t refund unless it’s in the 7 day window after activation.
Buyer beware. If T-Mobile is bad in your area Mint will be worse. Deprioritization of data at peak times.
They also are holding my phone number hostage. Calls to support and online web chat has produced broken promises. I have given up on trying to get my number back after being on the merry go round of support.
I take out my Canadian Sim card and insert my mint mobile card and set it up.
When I return to Canada I put my Canadian Sim in and my Canadian account works just fine
Been a Mint user for 3 years now. Absolutely love it!!
About 3 months ago, Mint Mobile was acquired by T-Mobile and will still operate as a stand alone entity, with plans for no changes to marketing/pricing. I believe that Ryan Reynolds now is on T-Mobile’s Board of Directors
Funny how Mint Mobile is owned by Canada’s own Ryan Reynolds, yet to no fault to Ryan, Canada has no access to his product. However, regardless of this, we here in Canada have heard nothing but good things about Mint and look forward to someday getting to try it out for ourselves. I too fully endorse switching to Mint Mobile if you can. I know I would.
I’ve had mint for two years now. Nothing bad to say at all, and they even increased my data per month, without going up in price. I pay a year ahead of time and for $15 a month I don’t know of a better deal.
I personaly have the $45 plan. I just spoke to a supervisor from Visible. And i asked him about my hotspot usage. And he said use what ever your heart contents. Let me elaborate about the 50gb limit. That limit is for premium data of 4g lte and regular 5G. After that is used up it is unlimited data, but not premium data for 4g lte and regular 5G (nationwide 5G). If at any point your phone says 5GUW IF you are on the $45 plan (visible plus) ONLY, you will get unlimited premium data as long as your phone says 5GUW. If it does not say 5GUW then you will use the 50gb premium data allotment. You will only have access to the 5GUW network on the $45 plan. The 5GUW network is NOT available on the $25 plan. As for the $45 plan I like it because it offers free roaming when i travel to mexico and the virgin islands. Which i do quite frequently. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything else.
You can do that only if your phone is unlocked. If you bought your phone in full from verizon verizon should unlock the phone. Thats if you bought your phone from verizon. If you didnt then more than likely its already unlocked. So if it is unlocked you can put any sim card you want into your phone.
You said 2nd tier providers dont accept wearables. Thats why i use Visible which is owned by verizon. I have an iphone 13 and my apple watch both connected to visible. Visible DOES accept apple watch. And it is only $5/month extra to have the warch on your plan. I love visible especially since i can use my apple watch with them. I also love visible for the great speeds that verizon offers.
Also came from T-Mobile to Mint about year ago. I don’t see any difference except cheaper bill.
Good point. I bought my phone from Verizon and it’s still locked. I’ll have to go into the store and get it unlocked (the website feature has never worked for me in the past).
EDIT: Just googled their unlocking policy and found this:
“Devices that you purchase from Verizon are locked for 60 days after purchase. Devices that you purchase from one of our authorized retailers are locked for 60 days after activation. After 60 days, we will automatically remove the lock unless the device is deemed stolen or purchased fraudulently. Following the 60 day lock period, we do not lock our phones at any time.”
So I should be OK.
TMobile network is terrible in my area. Rarely works. I’ve chosen Twigby for $15 month on the Verizon network. Get unlimited talk, text, 2gb data, and excellent reception. It also includes unlimited data at lower speeds. You can choose higher amounts of data for additional costs. Works well for us. After many years with Tracfone, I’m staying with Twigby.
I switched to Mint Mobile last month. So far I’m happy.
I must be psychic where Troypoint’s choices are concerned since I subscribed to both Surfshark and Mint Mobile at their respective geneses. Have you been monitoring my online activities? LOL
Mint Mobile runs on the T-Mobile network, which covers over 90% of Americans with 5G and over 99% of Americans with 4G LTE.
We have been using mint mobile for a couple of years. It’s a great service it’s a great price. However my only complaints is that overseas usage. Over the past 12 months we’ve been abroad several times and whilst it is possible to load my account to cover usage it never works. I’ve called into their customer service many times. The end result has been no cell service or data service from mint mobile.
I do like that I can call the UK both land line and cell phones at no additional charge.
Troy, I used one of the links in your article and have just signed up. I’ve been with Consumer Cellular for a number of years now and they’ve served me well and, were a lot cheaper than AT&T Mobility. But, after doing the math, I should be able to save about 1/3 the cost with a switch of our 2 phones.
Before I pulled the trigger and ordered, I went to the Facebook group for my little town here in NE Georgia. There were multiple posts about T-Mobile and the service got great reviews in my neck of the woods.
Thanks, Troy! Once again, you have been a great help.
I live in a rural area with many trees and hills. Verizon used to be the “king of cell service” here, but that has changed over the last year. I used Visible Wireless, which worked great, and I was able to purchase a SIM card for use in my NetGear MR1100 hotspot box with great download speeds (around 30 mbps). However, Visible no longer supports hotspot only devices.
I tried Mint Mobile, but they don’t offer “data only” plans and can get real expensive with monthly usage.
I now use Cricket Wireless, which use AT&T towers, for my cell and hotspot box. The cell service is weak here, but I use WiFi calling through my NetGear hotspot box. I purchased a separate SIM card for the hotspot box under the Cricket Wireless Data Only Plan. I pay $55 per month for 100 GB and get great speeds (20 to 60 mbps). If a person needs more data, there is a $90 per month plan for 150 GB.
To my knowledge, Cricket Wireless and AT&T are the only carriers that offer data only plans.
I, too, use Cricket Wireless in my rural area. I like the data only plan for my NetGear MR 1100 hotspot box. $55 per month for 100 GB with speeds of 20:- 60 mbps. StarLink is another option with lightning speeds, but unaffordable.
I;ve been using Mint since 2019 and never had an issue. Just be aware of their DATA plan setups.
I have wished for years that TMobile service was usable in my area.
What is funny to me is that my wife and I have Apple watches (4 and 5 I think) and I had no idea they make them with a cellular function. I thought all had to be tethered lol. Heck, maybe it possible to activate ours?
Well, Looked at my phone and it says “SIM Locked” (my other two phones say “No SIM Restrictions”). Called Verizon Customer Service… worthless! “Take it to the Verizon store” who I’m sure will just say “Call Customer Service”!
Makes me all the more intent on switching over!
We’re actually using something better than Mint Mobile. In June I found out that Dish Network bought Boost Mobile and since them taking over they are using both AT&T & T Mobile’s cell towers . Always find out who has the best service in your area first. Here in the Las Vegas Valley T Mobile is dominant . So looking into Boost Mobiles network I found out that they are using T Mobile networks here in Vegas . We got unlimited everything for $25 month. Not only that but they have a Boost Mobile app where you get points for logging in daily, watching a couple of videos and spinning a wheel. The points transfer to money in which you can apply to your bill. We are both set to have our 4th month in a row of free cell phone service . If you decide to join Boost Mobile make sure to set up individual lines so that each person can participate in the reward points and transfer it to cash to pay your bill. If you donate family group then you will earn less points being that it’s only one account attached to one boost mobile reward point app.
I’m using Mint right now but I have a friend on Boost like you he loves it. So if ever given a reason I will jump.
Just make sure you find out which cell towers provide the best service in your area then see what the company you switch to is using in your area so that you get optimal service .
Abysmal Far Eastern tech support.
I need unconditional call forwarding, which they say they support for my Pixel 6A. Sometimes it would work, but then I couldn’t cancel it. AFAIK, ALL carriers and landlines offer this, usually as a standard feature. After untold hours and calls, I finally gave up and switched to Visible.
$15/month was too good to be true, for me.
I wish i would have known you were going to switch to visible i could have saved you $20 on your first month
I hear real good things about Mint, but unfortunately for us, we live a small area where T-Mobile and ATT service is horrible. I’d change in a minute if the service gets better.
T-mobile it self works great in my area but if you use and mvno like boost or mint mobile in my area they dont work. Which is weird bc t-mobile it self works great. But i still use visible they have the best speeds compared to all the mvnos i tried
Only apple watches with cellular function can be connected to cellular. The cellular apple watches cost like $50 more than the bluetooth only apple watches
Thanks. I suspected as much. They were gifts from my Apple fanatic buddy after an upgrade. I can pretty much get around the house with my phone at my desk and the blue tooth on the watch will still work. Good enough for me.
I have recently ordered the Magic Box 2.0 for my vehicle. Does anyone know if a Mint Mobile sim card will work with this device? Would like to not tether my phone to it but let it have its own mobile service. I do not have my Magic Box yet but am trying to plan ahead. Thanks.
I switched to Boost Infinite almost a year ago, and have a locked in price of $25.00 per line for life, so with 2 lines is $53.all inclusive. Also includes hotspot, free international calls and free roaming in Canada and Mexico. So far so good, anyone else?
That price is only for 3 months with mint. I have been using Visible what is really Verizon. I travel and when using Visible as a hotspot I am able to stream months with out any problems and I use a lot of data doing this
In trying Mint were you able to keep your Verizon number ? Are you able to have the same # on 2 different SIM cards ?
I believe it’s illegal to have the same phone number on two different SIM cards so the main companies will not do it. However there is some voice over Internet protocol that may allow it. Google has a service I think WhatsApp has a service also.
What I’m concerned about is when I activate I have to choose either a new number or porting over my current number. I want to keep my current number and provider in case I don’t like Mint so that’s my dilemma.
Hello, I was in your same boat and that’s why I first used it on an old phone I had laying around. Do you have access to an old phone?
Yes they are sending me a SIM card. So what am I missing here when I activate old phone do I get new # or port my current one ?
I changed my wife, daughter and my phones to Mint Mobile. We all kept our same numbers.
My household has two T-Mobile phones. They’re not ‘unlocked’.
Does anyone know if those T-Mobiles will work?
OK apparently I’m not explaining myself very well. I have a phone with spectrum mobile right now. I have an old phone which for now am going to use for my new mint account. The SIM card comes tomorrow. When go to activate tomorrow and choose to keep my number won’t that automatically close my spectrum account ? I want to keep the option of canceling Mint open. If I take a new number in Mint and decide to keep Mint will I be able say in 3 months be able to port my current # over to Mint ? Whew !!!
Call both of them and ask.