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Kellen

It’s not often that you get to merge personal passions into a professional life, but that’s what Kellen did when he launched Droid Life in 2009. After working years of unsatisfying jobs in the medical and property management fields, he took a risk to try and create an online community while playing with the coolest gadgets on the planet each day, a risk that has turned out to be incredibly rewarding. Outside of Droid Life, Kellen is your typical Portlander who drinks way too much good beer, complains often about the Trail Blazers, and can be found out on the streets for a run, rain or shine.

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359 Comments

  • No blah blah blah, just cricket wireless(att mvno). Not the fastest Internet but great coverage and quality for price.

  • T-Mobile for unlimited data, I get pretty damn good coverage too. Was with Verizon for ten or so years, but with pricing these days I said screw em..

  • Verizon still with the lead. Not surprising, in many areas, their coverage can’t be beat, especially if you do a good amount of traveling.

  • The price was an extra bonus. I recently moved from Sprint to T-Mobile because I wanted the brown leather LG G4.

  • Verizon Grandfathered Unlimited. Enjoying it while it lasts. Coverage is usually excellent.

  • Droid life should do a poll for Verizon people only that asks if they are still on unlimited or not.

  • Previously paying Verizon $190/month for my wife and I. Great reception and service.
    Now paying StraightTalk $90/month for my wife and I. Great reception, service, and extra $100 in my pocket.

  • Verizon’s 10GB plan is $20 cheaper than AT&Ts and you get $15 line access if you BYOD. Add in a decent work discount like 20% and you’re under $100 a month. Not a bad deal by any stretch

  • Republic Wireless, and I love it. I’m a very light cellular data user because I live in an area blanketed by good WiFi connections. I suspect that when Republic Wireless pulls the trigger on their new pay-for-the-data-you-use pricing model, I’ll be paying around $15 a month, most months. When I travel, and my usage is higher, my monthly cost might get up to $25 or $30. Can’t beat that!

  • I love seeing all these verizon users still on the $60 unlimited plan. I really miss that plan. I wonder how many people they would lose if they stopped renewing all those plans.

  • Simple. I use T-Mobile because they don’t sell me locked phones. And no caps of any kind — unlimited minutes, texts, data. Extremely good quality of service in San Francisco Bay Area.

  • I have Ting, a Sprint (and recently also TMo) MVNO . I don’t use my phone much, so my bill is usually around or just under $20.

    Sprint service is hilariously poor in Phoenix. There are still dead zones and their 4g rollout is laughable.

  • Dat unlimted doe… verizon here.. cant beat unlimited for 30 bucks from the best carrier.

  • T-mobile. Can’t beat 6 lines with one that has unlimited for less than $130 a month. 2.5 GB on each of the other 5 lines.

  • Verizon. Best coverage and service where I am and where I go. Period. Also, great corporate discount, and grandfathered unlimited data.

  • Verizon…
    1. I’m a 10+ year employee
    2. Was a VZW customer while employed by T-Mobile and Southern-Linc due to VZW network superiority

  • Verizon 1) grandfathered unlimited data. 2) coverage . I have just purchased new phones and no need for a new contract!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Left VZW for Republic Wireless 3 months ago and haven’t looked back. I’m on the $25/mo plan with unlimited talk, text and 3G data. Hybrid calling setup seems to be working just fine. Wanted to try a prepaid carrier but still wanted a nice smartphone and went with the Moto X (2014).

    • Ohh, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re with Republic Wireless. Definitely a hack of a phone company. What kind of phone company doesn’t have a phone number to call and get technical or customer service?? There is no such thing as “hybrid calling”, and I’m sorry that they brainwashed you in to thinking that there was. If there is ‘hybrid calling’, ALL of the smartphones have it – its just the ability to make cell and wifi calls when and where you want.

      • Ohh, did someone have a bad experience? I actually prefer the way Republic handles customer service. There’s the user community, reference articles, live chat and email. Chances of getting successful resolution to a problem or question has been great so far. With VZW, I always got a rep that knew nothing about how my phone worked but just followed a script, then turned you over to 2nd level support. Hybrid calling allows you to start a call on WiFi and have it seamlessly switch to cellular service if you leave a hotspot. Works great and I do believe Republic is the only carrier that had that capability.

        • Hahaha. Which kissass Ambassador are you? Your words are just like all the other desperate fanboys trying to save RW from being eaten up by Google Fi and the competition. Customer service? What customer service?? This is a phone company that has the gull to try and sell customers the idea that they have NO PHONE NUMBER of their own to allow customers to call and get help. Gimme a break!! Believe me, one of the big reasons people are avoiding RW is because the word is out there that they won’t let customers call them to get assistance. Believe me, 90% of the general populous won’t be doing business with a phone company that claims they have no phone number. That is just as shady as shady gets.The seamless thing, give it a rest, RW has been trying to perfect this since 2011 and they have failed miserably. Just read their forums for all the complaints about dropped calls and garbled communications. There’s a reason RW only has 300k customers, they’re incompetent!

          • Yawn…and I think you meant gall rather than gull. Why so much animosity? Freedom of choice is great and so far I much prefer paying Republic $30 per month (including taxes) instead of paying VZW $75 per month. I retired recently and spend more time at home so wifi calling works perfectly fine for my situation. Having a customer service phone number at VZW did nothing for me. Whenever I called them, I knew much more about my phone model than they did. Problems were resolved more frequently by visiting user group forums where people actually knew how to operate and troubleshoot their phones because they lived with them. I’m not under contract, so if my views on RW change, I can move on but so far I’m 100% pleased with the move. If you want to use someone else, that’s your choice.

  • In St Louis, T-Mobile has outstanding coverage and data speed. Plus the price and plans fit my family. Customer service has been excellent and the phones don’t come super bloated (which was the case with Verizon).

  • I’ve been on all carriers, and my favorite one, and the one I’m currently on, is AT&T. They have the best price-to-coverage ratio. They’re coverage is almost as good as Verizon’s and they’re somewhere around $25/month cheaper for me.

  • Verizon for the coverage. Here in Kansas in the rural areas they have better coverage than the others. Was forced to go with them when they bought Alltel. Just wish their prices were better!

  • I’m on Verizon for unlimited data, coverage and price. At $70/month ($76 w/ taxes and fees) it’s still cheaper than an unlimited plan with T-Mo and I don’t have to worry about any coverage issues.

  • Southeastern Illinois. AT&T because of phone selection. The nexus 5 was when i switched since it wasn’t usable on Verizon. I don’t trust Verizon’s frequencies will be on Google’s List after the nexus 6 so i’ve stayed on AT&T. T-mobile/Spring are garbage in my area

  • I left my grandfathered unlimited at VZW for T-Mobile. While I do agree VZW had superior coverage, the network was getting crowded and I was being throttled. I’m paying about 40% less and was able to get a N6. Coverage is good for me. Full 4G at work and home. No complaints aside from a dead spot on the commute.

  • Cricket, for that sweet spot of coverage and cost that no other carrier can match.

  • Grandfathered-in Unlimited .. still with All-tell …errr … Verizon … lol

  • TMO: pricing, coverage, incentives and customer service has been fantastic.

  • Verizon. Coverage is great by me as I’m in suburban Chicago. I’m grandfathered on unlimited data so I won’t be leaving the plan until forced to. It’s about $170/mo for wife and I.

  • Just switched to Straight Talk on AT&T network from Verizon. So far so good. Service is at least as good if not better. Saving $50 even after the corporate discount I was getting at Verizon.

  • Verizon for the coverage. I’d much rather be with T-Mobile but they and AT&T have me with no signal at all for 60% of my day. I’m not happy with my $200 for 2 lines but it keeps me connected at least.

  • I’ve been with the “EVIL EMPIRE” known as Big Red since the Bell Atlantic days, and as stated before… it’s all about the coverage. Now if only Google’s new cellular venture involved Verizon Wireless’s backing instead of Sprint/T-MO I’d be onboard with them in a N.Y. minute.

  • I am with verizon because I have the unlimited data. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be with them. Service is complete crap! They throttle 4G.

  • Verizon. The coverage and speed, plus I am grandfathered into my unlimited and do not want to give it up. The only other unlimited options frankly usually get throttled after a while or their coverage is far inferior.

  • Me and my wife switched from Verizon to net 10 using at&t. Coverage is good enough and there customer service is great. Best part is buying any unlocked phone I want! Verizon’s bloatware is the worst getting updates much faster now. Unlimited talk text and 5 gigs each high speed data for right about $90 a month!

  • A Nexus 6 financed through T-Mobile (me) with the older and cheaper unlimited plan, a Nexus 4 bought from Google Play (my roomy’s) with 5gb, a Moto X 2nd Gen purchased directly from Moto (girlfriend) with 5gbs, and an iPhone 6 purchased through T-Mobile (mom, she wants Android but people at work keep telling her it’ll “work better” so she always goes back to iOS) with 5gbs.

    $160/month 🙂

  • Prepaid – Cricket, for AT&T’s network and pricing. Tmo is fine if you stay in the city, but it can’t handle cross country travel very well or even travel along the I-35 corridor in TX. I get consistent 4G in all but the most rural areas around central tx. Other than that my preference is for GSM networks over CDMA.

  • Don’t understand why the At&t hate. I’ve been very happy paying $29 (after taxes) per person on a 40gb plan. Almost no one uses the data leaving it all to me ? (10 people in the plan).

  • Verizon for the coverage and being grandfathered into an unlimited data plan. If that goes away, I probably will too, because the cost is too high.

  • Cricket has been awesome. Wife and I both have smartphones with 2.5gb of LTE. $70. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

  • waiting for oneplus 2 or oppo find 9 to switch from my terrible, over priced vzw, to t-mobile which has the same exact coverage where i live.

  • Verizon for the coverage…and I’m pretty sure that after all this time, even though I’m not on unlimited, I couldn’t beat the price/package I get for myself and my family. Not that it doesn’t go without it’s share of conflict – like when I got my N6 from the Play Store and promptly lost my $25 discount Month2Month subscribers discount because the VW network couldn’t “recognize” my device. It’s taken some time, but I now still get my discount(s) on every line, two of them are on N6.

  • Been on the T-Mobile $30 prepaid plan for a couple of years now. Coverage is generally fine though I’ve had some issues traveling. They temporarily blocked the Good app but after an e-mail to Mr. Legere and a nasty conversation with an ‘executive’ customer service rep it started working again a month later.

  • Google Fi. I use my phone as a hotSpot lots of the time and G-Fi doesn’t charge extra for that.

  • Verizon because of unlimited data, with 450 minutes and unlimited texting. with discount, $74 a month

  • Republic Wireless. Dropped our $130 total bill across Verizon/AT&T for 2 on Republic for a total bill of $40. My line with 5GB of 3G data for $28 after fees and the wife’s with just calling/texting for $12 after fees..

    • Well, be prepared to take one for the team because Republic is raising the price on the $25 plan. If you want to keep that 5GB of data, the price is jumping up to $85. OUCH!!!

  • Verizon for coverage and reliability.
    Pricing is really steep though, would be nice if it came down at least a little.
    Been walking around too much and hearing people say for so many other carriers “I have terrible coverage here” while I’m just fine coverage wise.
    Would also be nice if Big red would work on getting updates out a little faster.

  • Verizon here. The coverage and the company discount are what are keeping me. Mostly the coverage I am out in the sticks

  • I pay 120(before taxes) now for 4 lines on Verizon.. So i have no plans on going anywhere

  • I didn’t think I would ever leave Verizon. Especially with unlimited data. Ended up going tmo with my gf. 2 lines 100 bucks. Unlimited everything. Also the vast amounts of phones available to me now. I couldn’t resist.

  • T-Mobile here and so far the service is outstanding…..minus the damn building I work at lol.

  • Verizon:
    Can’t match their coverage, especially for someone who travels and vacations a lot.
    Grandfathered unlimited data for $10 a month for my wife and I
    27% corporate discount on top of that
    Using my Nexus 6 that I bought from Moto for $150 off is icing on the cake. Supports VoLTE, Visual Voicemail, etc. I’m in heaven!

  • Verizon
    – Coverage
    – Grandfathered Unlimited
    – Pricing (Corporate Discount)
    – Allows ANY Nexus 6

  • I’m on Verizon. Better coverage where we live than anything else. Also, I still have unlimited data with unlimited mobile hotspot.

  • The problem with Verizon is their adherence to CDMA technology and the fact that their phones do not handle voice and data at the same time. You don’t know how many times you use that until it’s gone! Plus, they don’t have the tablets I like to use!

    • Don’t know what phone you have. Voice and data worked on both my LG G2 and LG G3. Can’t remember if it did on Droid Razr Maxx HD.

    • my Nexus 6 does voice and data at the same time, and has VoLTE. So did my LG G2, and my Galaxy Nexus (voice and data).

  • $60/mo AT&T Prepaid. I can switch phones whenever I want, use any Nexus phone I want, and from my experience, their coverage matches Verizon, so I’m happy. And now that the plan includes 4GB of data (plus rollover, for that matter), I’m set.

  • T-Mobile for their amazing price, quality devices (they had the nexus 6 in stock on release day, nobody else did), superior coverage in my area, data speeds, WiFi calling, and customer service department that goes above and beyond to make sure I’m happy 100% of the time.

  • T-Mobile. No contract, truly unlimited 4G LTE data. Should I go on? Pricing is great.

  • Been with verizon for almost 20 years. Since before they became verizon. We had 10 lines with them, moved 5 to tmobile, the remaining 5 will be moved once tmobile improves coverage in a couple of spots near where we live. Tmobile says within next 6 months we’ll get coverage in those spots.

    Still on unlimited with vzw, and get 25% off everything with our corporate discount so price wise, vzw is closer to tmobile the for other people, but still higher.

    Main reason we want to move is the international txt and roaming. We have lots of family over seas and we travel often to visit them. The international roaming and texting plus wifi calling works great over seas and saves us the trouble of having to pickup pre-paid sim when we land in the foreign countries.

    Over the last 6 months tmobile has gone from zero coverage in towns near us to almost 100% coverage in the few towns around us where we spend most of our time. While verizon coverage has gone from 100% to maybe 75% at best. Many areas where verizon used to have great coverage, now you can’t get any data or calls their network is so congested. Yes you get a signal, but you can’t do anything with that so it’s basically the same as no coverage. Doesn’t matter if the phone shows 5 bars of 4G LTE if you can’t get any data, or make/receive calls/txt. I’ve tried to call verizon to report the issue, they just blow me off and say if phone shows more than 2 bars then it’s fine.

    So if tmobile keeps their word and fixes the coverage hole in the two areas near my home then I will switch the remaining 5 lines over to tmobile. Hopefully by thanksgiving this year.

    • I was on Verizon for almost as long as you, I switched to T-Mobile about 1.5 years ago and have had great service and saved $1900 on three lines in that time. My Verizon was super slow when I left with Tmo 10 times faster. Sounds like you will be saving more money than me. You will like it. I have only been without a signal a couple of times whiles out in the boonies. The wifi calling makes up for places where no cell from any carrier can get to. Love it.

  • I’m on tmobiles truly unlimited plan.

    I left Verizon last December 2014 and I have never looked back since in fact my data speeds are much faster and I have much better coverage around my city

      • Again when did I ever claim to own anything made by Kia?

        Really trolling all my posts someone needs to get laid lol

  • T-Mobile. Been really happy and my bill has actually dropped since joining them and they keep adding cool features and perks.

    I love being able to swap phones at will, too. Big deal for me.

    • Yep I agree a hundred and ten percent very well said and now 2 extra gigabytes of hot spot not that I use hotspot all that much because I really don’t but it’s nice to have a portable wifi n having a total of 7 gigabytes to use if need be couldn’t agree with you anymore however I’m very concerned about the Comcast rumor takeover if that ever happen I would leave T Mobile in a heartbeat.

  • I found some interesting blogs showing how to use a tablet SIM to get a “data” only plan and use SIP for texting/calling, I plan on giving this a try with Verizon. (currently I use T-Mobile)

  • T-Mobile worked good for me so far. Has Coverage 90% of the time to all the places I’ve traveled to.
    Certainly the International calling feature, best feature that you can get for the whole family with a very minimal pay.
    Lowest monthly bill compared to other carriers.

  • To you unlimited data Verizon customers, we get it, “I’m sticking with vzw until they force me out of my unlimited data, then I’m gonna go to T Mobile”, calm down, we get it

  • Moved from Verizon to T-Mobile. Southern CA is a strong market for T-Mobile, even outside of metro areas. LTE from the coast to LA to the high deserts up to Barstow. Then the stretch of desolate desert wasteland on the way to Vegas is mostly 2G. LTE speeds are pretty decent though, since it’s mostly 20MHz band 4 AWS, which Verizon is also slowly rolling out to my city (it’s 3 miles up the road, but Verizon’s LTE speed at my house is less than 1Mbps – not kidding); my brother still uses Verizon, so I can actively compare between the two. Comparatively, T-Mobile at my house is 10-35Mbps depending on loads. It usually averages about 15Mbps, which is fine. In most areas I’ve been, LTE has been quite good. The highest peak speed on T-Mo that I’ve personally experienced was 74Mbps at around 2pm. Verizon was about 65Mbps at 5am or 45-55Mbps during peak hours.

    2 lines for $100/mo on T-Mo + 1 extra line ($40) + 2 phone payment plans ($46)
    Total is about $217 with all taxes/fees
    Had 2 lines on Verizon for $180/mo (no discounts), 1 line on unlimited data, 1 on 4GB w/ hotspot, 700 minutes, unlimited texts

    T-Mobile was just the better value even with the added line.

    I’m heading to Atlanta and Savannah, GA tomorrow, so I’ll get to try things out over there w/ T-Mo. I expect to see 2G outside of major cities, but we’ll see. My Verizon 2013 Moto X doesn’t support band 2 LTE, so I wouldn’t get LTE in rural areas anyway if band 2.

  • I’ve been on Consumer Celluar for the last two years and I have no complaints.
    -AT&T Network is good enough (Verizon/USCellular is the only other option in my location)
    -250 minutes/1.5GB of HSPA+ Data and unlimited texts shared on 2 lines is $45/month and just right for us ($55ish after taxes)
    -Buy all our phones off contract 12-18 months after they come out $10 a month covers both our phones after you account for selling our old phones

  • verizon because I love locked phones, high prices, poor customer service, tons of proprietary bloatware/blocking of certain apps, and waiting forever for updates… It has nothing to do with coverage in rural areas where I live…

  • Dropped my unlimited Verizon for a Z3 Compact as I was tired of dealing with Verizon’s bs and wanted to be able to get a SMALLER phone that didn’t suck, which isn’t remotely offered by any carrier at this point :-

  • Verizon for the coverage, though I do have a Project Fi invite sitting in my inbox and my contract with Verizon is up on August 29…

  • Verizon for the unlimited on 3 lines for 9.99/month. Will never give up this plan!

  • Said F U to verizon about 3 weeks ago. I am content with tmobile lowered the bill by $70 a month and still have great coverage.

  • Verizon for the coverage, unlimited, and the price (6 phones $50 a month each, all unlimited).

  • Verizon – great coverage, fast speeds, unlimited data, company discount – $65/mo. Very reasonable.

  • US Cellular 😀 With their new 4G roaming agreements and their ever expanding 4G…I have a hard time not having a signal. Great company!!

  • Verizon, unlimited data, only carrier I can get coverage where I live, my only internet option, use around 120GB/mo avg., pay around $75.

  • Verizon for the coverage… grandfathered in on unlimited data with my m8

  • T-mobile – has coverage that can penetrate the workplace walls. Verizon is still unable to, years later- unhappy I lost Verizon unlimited but what’s the point if I can’t use it. +Wi-Fi calling and left the wife on vzw.

  • Verizon … still on UNLIMITED DATA plan and no one can match/beat their coverage. Not to mention that I get a 20% discount through work. Running a non-VZW rooted Nexus 6 on the network is GREAT as well!! 🙂

  • I am a 100% GSM guy, so my options are essentially two. T-Mobile has atrocious coverage in my hometown (despite it being a top 50 market), and hasn’t made any effort to improve in over 10 years, so AT&T it is. I’d never go to Verizon given their irrational hatred for updates. AT&T isn’t quite as bad, but at least I can buy nearly any unlocked phone I want and avoid their update process.

    Their pricing has actually improved somewhat, so thanks for that at least T-Mobile!

  • There sure is a lot of Verizon hate here (although understandable) to say they’re voted the most at the moment.

  • T-Mobile in Houston. It is impossible to beat 2 lines with unlimited (the real kind) everything for $100.

  • AT&T because it’s the best of the worst! I use “best” very loosley in that statement. VZW was the fastest, but the coverage in my home was horrible!

  • Verizon, because work has a small tower on top of our building, and they pay for it.

  • Verizon through my University. $55/mo unlimited data/text/MMS/night & weekend/mobile to mobile, 500 anytime minutes. Oh, and only 1 year contracts!

  • Cricket, same AT&T Coverage, fast enough LTE (8Gb/s), more data, and way cheaper. $120/month for 5 lines (4 with 2GB and 1 with 10GB). I just can’t beat that anywhere for the coverage/price.

  • VZW. In Sioux Falls SD, the only other BIG CARRIER “options” are Sprint and AT&T. $139 for two lines and unlimited data means I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

  • AT&T. I need the coverage that T-Mobile and Sprint don’t have and I like being able to use my own phone instead of one of theirs!

  • Project FI really needs to be included on this list? At least as a data point

  • It’s all about the coverage and the unlimited data! If I lose unlimited I still might have to stick with them because I travel a lot and need data coverage.

  • Sprint, because I can get the Nexus 6, with unlimited data for cheap. Plus good reception.

  • T-Mobile
    – price
    – WiFi calling
    – free roaming (data and texting) in countries I care about
    – $10/mo (for all lines in the account) unlimited calling and texting to landline and mobile phones in countries I care about

    Don’t care about “unlimited” data or speed. Yes, coverage can be an issue, but it’s not the end of the world.

    • T-Mobile, 2/$100 unlimited with 7gb Hotspot.

      I’ll admit, I miss Verizon here and there but GSM is just too flexible to turn down. And with international roaming data (even if it is 2G) I just can’t complain

      • If you buy a decent phone (Note 4, for example), you can use any GSM band you like whilst in another country as the radios are all there and all active. SIM unlocked phones FTW

  • Still with Verizon. Number one reason is amazing speed and coverage coupled with unlimited data for both our lines.
    Price has made us seriously think of leaving Big Red, but fear of the T-Mobile black hole of connectivity keeps us paying a premium and burning through much more data than we would otherwise be allowed to use if we ever left VzW.
    AT&T would be the same as VzW but w/o the unlimited data, and Sprint… no thanks for where we live.

  • I moved my family plan 3 lines from Verizon to T-Mobile in October. Things have been great overall. We live in a major metro area, so coverage has been fine, even great at times. The bill is 45% cheaper. Customer service has been great so far. I love having no contract. I love having unlocked phones, and being able to use things like Wallet that were blocked on my VZW GS3. Overall, I’m with them for freedom, and cost.

  • In the next one, you should include Project Fi as a stand-alone voting button. I’d love to know the % of DL users that are on it, and what they think about it so far!

    I find it fascinating that Verizon is #1, and then #2 is T-Mobile and not AT&T. Shows what people that visit this site, I guess. Some love their coverage, and others love their unlocked Nexus phones. 🙂

  • Verizon primarily (Moto X) while I’m testing Project Fi on my Nexus 6. My Verizon is grandfathered unlimited but I have WiFi pretty much everywhere I go so I’m investigating the savings Project Fi could offer.

  • AT&T, they have the closest frequency compatibility to global GSM bands, they have great coverage, they’re the best option for unlocked phones, and their monthly price is cheap. Verizon is locked down to the crap phone selection they sell and they’re expensive per month.

  • Still a lot of leftover “Droid” fans on this site. So Verizon will always win these polls…

    I’m rocking on Cricket. I’ll never sign another contract. $55/20GB #GSMInternationalUnlockedForever

  • Unfortunately, I’m still on Verizon. I’d love to give TMobile some love, but there’s a decent portion of MN where I travel to visit family fairly often that has ZERO coverage by TMobile. So I guess until that’s remedied, I stick with the Big (ugly) Red….

  • Gotta love prepaid and the freedom it provides. For that, I fork over my $50/month to Cricket for 20 GBs of data.

    • Hold up! There’s a $50 plan for 20 GBs?? I didn’t see that anywhere. How did I miss this?

      • The plan is actually $60/month, but I had been paying $55 because they knock $5 off if you use auto-pay. They knocked an additional $5 off of my bill when I added a line.

  • I have a question for people. When my vzw contract is up, what is the cheapest unlimited plan with good coverage. I live close to major cities but mainly in the suburbs.

  • Was T-Mobile but the coverage on road trips was killer. Switched to Cricket for AT&T coverage, loving it so far (3 months in). Wife and I have 5GB of data each, two lines, for a total of $90 per month.

  • AT&T don’t have unlimited data but I split roughly 45GBs a month with another person. Got a double the data promo last year and a good monthly discount. My devices are Google Play devices.

  • Sprint, unlimited data… while not the fastest or the most coverage, i’m not being charged for data at least.

  • I am currently on Sprint. I am saving the money to break contract so I can go with Simple Mobile next month…or maybe Google Fi if it becomes available for phones other than the Nexus 6.

  • Verizon. It’s the best network. Comparably reasonable pricing to the other carriers in my area.

    It doesn’t matter as much now, but I originally signed up for Verizon because of the unlimited talk/text to other VZW customers. Something like 95% of the people I communicate with are using VZW so even with l400 minutes and only 250 texts I never had any overages.

    Only complaint: Slow to update devices.

  • Verizon until they take my unlimited, then just depends on who else has any service where I live in rural Nebraska

  • For me, AT&T offers the best coverage while allowing me to buy pretty much any unlocked phone I want. Pretty sweet.

  • Tmo, ’cause price. 95% of the time I have great coverage. The other 5% I’m usually out in the desert where I don’t want coverage anyway.

  • Verizon for now. The moment they try to take away my unlimited data I’m bolting to Project Fi. But for now to get 2 lines with unlimited data, 1400 minutes, unlimited texts, and insurance for $150/mo is too hard to beat.

  • Still on VZW, I started it ~15 years ago when my job offered a 20% discount. I’ve still got my discount and unlimited data, but even if I had to give up both I would most likely stay simply due to their coverage since I have lots of friends and family I visit that live in the middle of no-where and Verizon is about the only carrier that works in all those places. It sucks cause I have an invite to Google Fi, but I don’t have a Nexus 6 and I don’t think their coverage would work for me. I wish they would let you borrow a phone to test their coverage with before switching over.

    • Have you ever considered Republic Wireless? Their hybrid WIFI calling is very good. You can try them for 30 days and still get a refund on your phone purchase and service if you don’t like them. The Moto X 2014 is just $299 off contract.

    • Definitely pass on Republic Wirless. Their ‘hybrid tech’ is no more than a VOIP dialer that they cooked up that sits on top of Android OS. It’s nothing more than a regular smartphone that can make cell and wifi calls – which is about 95% of all smartphones nowadays. They will soon be raising their rates to $15/gigabyte of data, so, not the best deal around.

  • I’m on T-Mobile for the price mainly. I live in a major city, so coverage isn’t much of an issue. I was paying about twice as much when I was on Verizon.

  • Verizon primarily (Moto X) but testing Project Fi on my Nexus 6. I’m grandfathered unlimited on Verizon but with WiFi everywhere I go, examining the possibilities of savings via Project Fi.

  • I recently switched from Verizon to AT&T. The primary reason I switched was because Verizon wasn’t supporting the Nexus 6 – and had a poor track record with Nexus devices in general

    • I would choose device freedom over slightly better coverage any day, which is why I’m also on AT&T. I only buy unlocked phones. Can’t handle carrier bloat, restrictions, and delayed updates.

    • They’ll have to rip it away from me to even think about leaving. Plus I’m on the old and rare “Talk & Text Plus Data” promo. $20 off each line. $220/mo for 5 lines all w/ unlimited.

    • 2UDP lines. VZW coverage and excellent customer service. I hear so many horror stories about their C/S but my experience for nearly a decade has been awesome. Also 20% discount due to my work

      • Just don’t ask them to recognize the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents.

      • I agree, I’m on T-Mo now for the amazing pricing (see my comment above) but there customer service was always amazing. Now I will tell you that T-Mo’s is even better which is so hard to believe, but yes I always had great experience. Keep in mind, that is over the phone and chat ONLY, the in-store employees were always dumbies lol.

    • I just switched to Cricket and I am shocked at how bad it’s been for me. Terrible service almost everywhere. Download speeds rarely above 1Mbps, even with full bars of LTE. Noticeably higher latency than when I was on T-Mobile. Using a Nexus 5 in the Metro Denver area, so I wouldn’t think equipment or location would be any sort of limitation. I was looking forward to the better coverage of AT&T’s towers, but I’ll be switching back to T-Mobile after this painful experiment. 0/10 would not recommend.

      • Wireless carriers definitely aren’t a “one size fits all”. My experience has been quite the opposite.

        • Same. Had Verizon for several years, but we were paying over $140/month for my wife and I after she joined my plan. The next time my contract was up we switched to T-Mobile for ~$110/month. Coverage was horrible outside of cities and we travel 4-6 hours to see our families several times a year. Not having coverage for large stretches of interstate was a deal-breaker for us. After a ton of MVNO research, we chose Cricket for $85/month. Coverage is amazing in my experience. Some places are better than my friends’ Verizon coverage, some are worse. After they upped the data allowances on their plans we dropped back to the basic plans and now pay $65/month for both of us. Thanks to Swappa, mint condition used phones basically equal a phone discount on regular carriers. Already converted 3 of my friends to Swappa and a couple more are thinking about it.

      • Ryan,

        I had this problem too but had the wrong APN. Check yours. Here’s mine (funny the are straight up AT&T settings now)

        NAME: ATT Nextgenphone
        APN: nxtgenphone
        MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
        MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
        MMS Port: 80
        MCC: 310
        MNC: 150
        Auth Type: None
        APN Type: default,mms,supl,hipri,fota
        APN protocol: IPv4
        APN Roaming Protocal: IPv4

        If I didn’t specify it, it’s not filled out.

        • Interesting – this does seem to have helped. Especially odd considering the APN settings on Cricket’s site match what was loaded onto my phone when I inserted the cricket SIM.

          • Also, what phone are you using? Are you sure it supports all of AT&T’s spectrum?

        • It’s definitely been unimpressive. Mostly HSPA at home, work, and most places that I’ve been around the city in the past week. LTE will come in and out but is generally not the norm. My T-Mobile signal was stellar everywhere in the city and really only dropped off when I ventured off the beaten path in the mountains.

  • Verizon. Almost all the complaints about them are childish. They are the best provider for most of us using it, best coverage, usually pretty great customer support and yes they are more expensive but you get what you pay for. I wouldn’t leave for any other carrier. South Florida.

    • You got that right. Sure, I hate their guts as an entity but from a network prescriptive, they’ll always win. T mobile doesn’t scare anymore.

      • Whining about them is just a waste of time. Most of us who use them can’t find comparable service. Yeah let’s crucify them for being a money driven company AND providing the best coverage…it’s silly.

    • I switched from VZW to Tmo over a year ago and I’m much happier. Coverage is about the same, bill is cheaper, and I can use any phone I choose. Most of my complaints were about updates for the GNex, and a lack of phone options. Childish? Maybe, but it’s nice to be completely satisfied with your provider experience.

    • Weird we switched from Sprint to Big Red with 5 lines and it was actually cheaper lol.

      • Yea, if you do the shared data plan it is cheaper with vzw, especially with corporate discount.

    • Paying $48/mo for unlimited data, unlimited texts, and 750 shared minutes as part of my family plan….I’m on Verizon for the coverage and the price 🙂

      • Same reason here, I only pay $64/no for a single plan with 450 minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data. $16 cheaper than T-Mobile.

      • I pay $44 for my line’s share of the charges with a similar set up with my family. Unlimited grandfathered data, unlimited text and 1400 shared minutes (we have 5 lines in total but rarely go over 700 min). I have the feeling VZW won’t let us reduce our minutes to 700 as they would probably force us onto a shared plan or something less beneficial. I told my Dad to never change any our plan or our service without letting me know first. I have no desire to open up my own line.

      • Yea, i remember that plan. Man how times have changed! Swappa is your best friend lol

        • If you’re on the nationwide plan that Gabe had confirmed for me earlier it is technically possible for unlimited texting but only on select variants of the nationwide plan sets. Usually there’s a 1400 min plan talk &text (unlimited) for example. Depends on your plan.

          • I have Nationwide 500 min plan I believe I’d have to check again. Would I call Verizon instead of go into the store?

          • The 500 and 450 nw plans are the odd ones out that do not apply. These I assume because of the age (450) and the loyalty (500) that this is why it is ineligible. The 700 minute plan is the lowest with unlimited text. The other two would have a standard now off 1000 for $10 or possibly in some accounts you may have an option for 2000 for $20.

          • It’s a nationwide 550 (I was off 50) plan but yes it is a loyalty plan. Ah bugger. I’m no sure how many texts we’d use. Right now two lines use Google voice and hangouts and my grandmother just uses her tablet if she wants to use gvoice to text her crafting friends.
            Thanks for this info, I really appreciate it.

            So last question haha. What if, I upgraded to 700 mins (which I do now and then anyways) could I add unlimited texting then or would I mess up my 2 unlimited data lines?

    • I’m surprised there is no Straight Talk love. $46 after everything is all said and done. unlimited talk, text and 5gb of Data on At&t coverage map for half the price.

        • Just don’t ever run into a problem ever, the customer service is hit or miss. Besides that I’ve been with them for a little over 3 yrs and it seems to just get better and better.

        • True but you are capped at 8mbps and I’m usually around wifi, thanks to my cable provider.

          • I don’t think there has been a single instance where I’ve been adversely affected by that cap. I don’t notice it at all…but then, I also don’t make it a habit of downloading large files on my phone, biggest files I work with on my phone are 20mb or so tops.

          • Yeah, every once in a while i download something 50mbs+ and that extra speed comes in handy. How does Netflix work for you.

          • Works fine, use it for mobile hotspot as well…no issues at all. My 150mb Comcast connection at home has more issues with streaming then my cricket connection.

          • no, but FoxFi does 🙂

            Also, cricket is adding a hotspot option, just no ETA yet.

        • Hear, hear.

          I spend all year roaming the country, and AT&Ts network is stellar – except in Nebraska.

      • Me too actually. I remember many people commenting that they were very happy with Straight Talk.

      • I used to until I got my family on an ATT plan together and now I pay <$40 for at least 3 gb of service (normally more because 3 of the 5 lines are low usage)

      • Its only $43 for me after I opt into the auto billing. Best plan ever. Much better than Cricket if you download big files.

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      You Can Look It Out This Link…..

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      • I would join Project Fi as I have an invite but me and my other two lines are all under contract with vzw for a year longer. We used to have unlimited, but the rep told my account holder it would be cheaper without it. It wasn’t cheaper, they fell for it though. I was pissed.

        • Careful, some people on another article got awfully mad at me for snagging an invite and not using it yet because I didn’t have a Nexus 6. They said I took up an invite that they could be currently using. Obviously that wasn’t my intention, as the invites never expire and the next Nexus should be Fi capable.

          • That’s the reason I grabbed one. They never expire and im using it once my contract is up. Im getting a new nexus. Anyways, thing is, its just like google+ being invited only. They’ll open it to everyone soon enough.

          • Yea, I’m holding onto it until the next Nexus(es) are released. I’m praying to Zod for a refreshed Nexus 5. I’m on T-Mobile now, so going to Fi will only increase my coverage and double my international speed, which is great.

          • Yeah..boohoo if they didn’t. I didn’t, but I get people reserving theirs. It’s google’s fault for not requiring the hardware to get an invite.

    • I feel bad because I have an invite but don’t have a Nexus 6. I signed up just out of curiosity.

      • What market are you in? I’m in Austin and would love to hear more from people about their Fi experience.

        • I’m in Round Rock and have been on Fi for three weeks. I was on AT&T before and have definitely noticed a drop in signal quality, but I’m told that is status quo with TMobile.

          Its definitely an early adopter thing, and if you go in with that mentality you’ll be pretty happy. I haven’t noticed a lot of issues, and there are some neat things they are doing with caller ID, and support. With caller ID, it will look up the number that is calling in (or that you’re calling out) and will put a name and pictures on the screen if it recognizes it. As for support, you don’t call support. You click a button on the app (and there is a time estimate below that button), and support calls you when they are available. Its how all customer support should be done.

          • Thanks for the reply! The Caller ID by Google is a part of every Nexus phone. It does it on my Nexus 5 on T-Mobile. 🙂 As for coverage vs. AT&T, I can match any of my AT&T or Verizon friends with signal and speed in Austin proper. Not sure about outside of the city / highways though. I am also usually faster than them too, if we run a speed test. Hopefully it’ll improve in Round Rock with Band 12 once fully implemented in the Austin area!

            Glad you’re having good experience with them! The only thing you seem to not be as impressed with is coverage, which shouldn’t be a problem for me as I have T-Mobile currently. Thanks!

        • Tmo is definitely good in Austin proper and even in some of the suburbs. Not good on the highway and outside the city, I would drop to Edge on 35 between Austin and San Marcos. AT&T is good all over the area. Don’t know much about Verizon, but the people I know with it haven’t complained much. I live in SM and work in RR, so I get around.

          • How long has it been since you used T-Mobile? they’re deploying Band 2 LTE in rural areas like crazy around here. I can go 99% of the way from Austin to NOLA with LTE. 100% of the way to Dallas. 100% of the way to San Antonio too, now. They’re definitely trying!

          • It’s been a few years since I personally was on Tmo. That’s awesome news though, I may have to pick up a new SIM the next time I make a trip out to TN to test it.

          • Check their user-verified coverage maps. Pretty darned accurate if it’s been user verified.

          • Verizon had me on LTE all the time wherever I was ( in/out of town). Whether it was at COTA, in RR or Driftwood.

        • If you’re referring to the UDP plans on VZW, they closed that loophole. Unlimited no longer persists through an Assumption of Liability.

          • Partially true. It’s still possible with business lines, and UDP are still going for $750 on ebay

      • That’s exciting. I’d love to hear feedback specifically on the handover, back and forth, between WiFi to cellular calls. I’m on Republic Wireless, and it works really well, though handover currently only goes from WiFi to cell, not from cell to WiFi. The only hiccup is when I’m near the edge of a WiFi network’s range (like in aparking lot), and I place a call as I’m quickly leaving, while the call is still being routed. This has happened a number of times as I am pulling out of a parking space–the phone of the person I’m calling rings, but when they pick up it’s a dead line on both ends.

        If I walk out of WiFi range at a normal pace, or if I leave range after the call has already been routed and is connected, the handover works perfectly 100% of the time, and the person on the other end doesn’t even know the switch happened.

        Can you share your thoughts with Project Fi’s handover feature?

    • Yeah. How was this not a survey option on this site? Just seems like a good opportunity to see how many of the faithful have received invites AND taken the leap.

      • My brother and I are still holding onto it. On a family plan w/700 minutes, unlimited data and text. I’m using nexus 6 purchased from motorola and he has 1st gen Moto X. bill is about $100/month for both of us with my companies discount, sorry nobody can beat that.

    • Probably will be the case for more than half the people on here (including me). I bet DL readers account for a significant portion of Verizon’s unlimited data users, lol.

      • i think i may have ended up following DL bcuz i was searching for ways to keep my unlimited data. that or for info regarding an often delayed software update. both verizon issues am i right?

  • Left Verizon for AT&T a while ago and don’t regret it at all. Would have gone to T-Mobile if I didn’t live outside of their 4G coverage.

    • I gave up VZW unlimited went to AT&T and then moved to Cricket. Download limit is fine with me. Saving all kinds of money

      • Being on AT&T and then on Cricket, I really don’t notice any difference in how I use my device. At first, the data connection was really janky, but when I found the right APN settings, it fixed it.

        • I don’t know if they did when you switched, but we just recently switched and they automatically send the apn settings to your phone now – quite helpful.

  • The Devil

    aka Verizon

    I’m a Grandfathered 450 min/Unlimited text & data user. I’m still with them because of the coverage, my bill is only $83, and I love using Gigs of data as an F U to them.

    • Outside of coverage all i see are reasons why you should be looking at other options.

    • Apparently the greatest trick the devil ever played was making you think that using his products, paying for them, and then using “Gigs of data” was an F U to him 🙂

      • Using 30+ GB is a pretty big FU to Verizon seeing as to how 30 GB costs $225 on more everything.

        • Secret for you, 30GB of data doesn’t actually cost the entity you are trying to “stick it to” anywhere near $225. It’s like trying to take the local buffet to the cleaners by eating copious amounts of shrimp, after removing the breading.

          • The difference between eating copious amounts of shrimp and using unlimited data is that you get full off of shrimp and have to stop.

            I have no limit with my data. Thanks for trying to downplay it though.

          • Not downplaying, just curious why you are hell-bent on the idea that you are somehow taking advantage of the company that you dislike for taking advantage? I’m for everyone using the carrier that best suits them without having to justify that choice because the popular consensus tells them that carrier sucks.

          • Unlimited 4G LTE data almost everywhere I go makes the $80/month price tag a great deal! I’ve never gone over my 450 monthly minutes in the five years I’ve been with Verizon. FoxFi allows me to connect all of my devices plus all of my friends’ and family members’ devices to the Internet during road trips. I will stick with my grandfathered unlimited Verizon data plan as long as I possibly can!

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