I haven’t paid “full price” for a cellular phone plan for decades, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any trade-offs. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) buy network capacity in bulk from major carriers (MNOs like T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) and resell them to individual customers. For a while, the main trade-off for going with an MVNO (which buys bulk minutes and data from the major carriers) was slightly worse cellular coverage due to a lack of roaming agreements with other carriers. If you were on a AT&T MVNO, you could only use AT&T cell towers.
These days, the primary catch is data de-prioritization. To manage the demand, there are different Quality of Service Class Identifiers (QCI levels) that have different priorities on the network. In areas where there are a lot of people, especially things like concerts and sporting events, there is a lot of demand and those not at the front of the line will notice slow or no data.
This provides an excellent collection of the data prioritization policies of the major carriers. It’s still a lot, so I have attempted to summarize everything below as much as possible.
For Verizon, QCI 8 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:
- All Verizon Postpaid “Traditional” plans (except “Welcome”).
- Visible+ and Visible+ Pro (owned by Verizon).
- Total Wireless’ Total 5G Unlimited and Total 5G+ Unlimited (owned by Verizon).
- Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile (owned by cable companies).
- US Mobile Unlimited Premium “Warp” (*for 5G w/ Premium Only)
QCI 9 is a step lower, the base tier. Includes:
- Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan (their most basic plan)
- Visible Base plan
- US Mobile Unlimited Starter “Warp” and other Warp plans.
- All other Verizon prepaid MVNOs.
For AT&T, QCI 7 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:
- Select AT&T Plans with special “Turbo” data.
QCI 8 is a step lower, but still considered higher priority. Includes:
- Select AT&T Plans with “Extra/Premium/Max” data.
- Cricket Supreme Unlimited, Cricket Sensible 10GB plans (*owned by AT&T)
- H2o, Consumer Cellular, and PureTalk MVNOs.
- US Mobile Unlimited Premium “Dark Star” (*Premium Only)
QCI 6 is another step lower, the base tier. Includes:
- AT&T base Unlimited plans for both AT&T postpaid and AT&T Prepaid.
- All other AT&T plans once the “Turbo/Premium” data is used up.
- Cricket Select Unlimited, Cricket Smart Unlimited plans (*owned by AT&T)
- US Mobile Unlimited Starter “Dark Star” and other Dark Star plans.
- All other AT&T prepaid MVNOs.
For T-Mobile, QCI 6 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:
- All T-Mobile Postpaid and Prepaid plans (except “Essentials”)
- Google Fi
QCI 7 is a step lower, the base tier. Includes:
- T-Mobile Essentials plans (their most basic plan)
- All other T-Mobile prepaid MVNOs, including Metro and Mint Mobile (both owned by T-Mobile).
Long-time readers will know that I was with Mint Mobile for a long time. I didn’t need much data back then. But each year, I felt the low priority of Mint Mobile data became more and more noticeable. Anywhere crowded, even an airport, and things would slow down significantly. Oftentimes, I basically had no data at all, which was very frustrating when just trying to call up an Uber. T-Mobile sells a lot of data to MVNOs, so perhaps that’s another reason. I first tried to jump ship to Visible, but they messed up my number port so badly that I couldn’t get 2FA verification codes for days so I quickly switched back to Mint Mobile.
Late last year, after a positive experience with US Mobile’s customer service involving their Apple Watch plans, I decided to switch to US Mobile’s Unlimited Premium plan which offers “Priority Data” on their Warp (Verizon) and Dark Star (AT&T) plans. They run a lot of promotions (often extending them over and over) but I jumped on the Warp plan with Unlimited Premium because it also included a free Apple Watch cellular plan. I’m paying a bit more than I used to with Mint Mobile, but I’ve definitely noticed the improvement in data quality. My number port was nearly instant. With their Unlimited Premium plan, I can even switch between networks for free if one place has better coverage, allowing me access to AT&T and T-Mobile towers.
I am happy with US Mobile as I now have high data speeds, multi-network coverage, reasonable cost, and decent customer service.
The current is on Dark Star (AT&T). Unlimited Starter for $119/year prepaid upfront ($9.92/mo) for the first year (regular data priority) with promo code WINTER119 and Unlimited Premium for $149/year prepaid upfront ($12.42/mo) for the first year (which offers higher data priority and other perks) with promo code WINTER149. Port-in required. Starts 1/28 at 11am ET through 1/31.
You can stack the current promo with my referral link to get an :
To qualify for the $25 referral bonus, you must maintain active paid service in good standing for 6 months, port in a new line, and spend a total of $100 on Unlimited, By the Gig, or Smartwatch plans — Other plans, top-ups, devices, add-ons, roaming, and certain promotions (listed at usmobile.com/promo-archive) are excluded. Annual plans will be prorated monthly (e.g. $228 equals $114 after 6 months).
If you want a deal on Verizon (Warp), I’d just wait around for a bit. However, it probably won’t ever be as cheap as this Dark Star (AT&T) deal. I paid $299 for a year of Unlimited Premium (includes Priority Data and Apple Watch cellular plan) during a previous sale. Full price at renewal will be $390/year ($32.50/month), which is still much cheaper than any traditional major carrier plan after you add taxes/fees and $10/month for the Apple Watch add-on.
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