The end of 3G cellular

My Verizon plan is no longer available. I'm grandfathered. I'd have to get one of their "least expensive" plans for $80/month. Maybe there's a super-cheap phone that can be used to try the service.

 

You shouldn't be in a grandfathered plan—that's how they manipulate the customers in staying in an expensive outdated plan or switching into an even more expensive plan. There is a plethora of Verizon MVNOs that can get you five or more times the data for half what you are currently paying if you want to stay with their network.

https://www.tomsguide.com/reference/verizon-mvnos-what-are-they-and-which-is-the-best-option

 

I contacted several of them and they said that I can't sign up because Verizon doesn't allow them to activate IMEIs from current Verizon customers.

 

Probably another reason to leave Verizon. You will probably need a new phone though as you said. If you switched to Mint Mobile, the savings could offset the cost of a new Pixel in about a couple of years, and you don't have to worry about an old phone breaking down and leaving you phoneless.

 

The new Pixels suck. Just waiting for a 6-inch screen, headphone jack, and no bump on the back with stock Android and unlockable bootloader. Been waiting for 4 years so far. I also learned that Verizon and T-mobile deprioritize MVNO traffic, so in heavy usage areas you're second or third in line for airtime. I'll keep waiting.

 

T-mobile still has better coverage than Verizon? I doubt that, they never did. What's your source?

Also, one thing about MVNO's vs. the major cell phone companies is you won't get roaming. If you travel out in the boonies, that can make a difference whether you have cell service or not.

 

Sounds like the phone is locked to Verizon. If it's paid for they should unlock it for you if you ask. I paid off my iPhone 8Plus early so I could use it when I went to Africa. Once there, I got a local sim and swapped it with the one from the US. Worked perfectly. When I got back to the US, I changed them back. Since that stunt changed my phone number, I had to edit my Apple account to associate that new number with my device so that the other nifty Apple features worked and then change it back when I got home, but that was minor.

 

Likewise, I will not buy another locked phone, again. I use and iPhone 6S. My husband uses this phone with Android 10.

Both work perfectly with Mint Mobile, which is 4G LTE and 5G.

 

Buying one of those SIMM cards works great. My son did that when we went to Spain. Unfortunately it wouldn't work in my Verizon phone even though the phone was paid off. Verizon locks their phones for 60 days from purchase Device Locking FAQs My phone was unfortunately within 60 days.

 

I have never used a locked smartphone. I never liked the idea of a deal for a free phone in exchange for two long years of the plan contract. I have used all 4 major carriers, AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile, and Sprint (when Sprint was still a separate player), and found AT&T is the only carrier that gives decent coverage in my region. This is highly dependent on the region, so you just have to try it yourself. That is another reason I never liked a long contract that I can not switch freely.

Out of all the MVNOs I have tried so far, and yes I have tried at least a dozen MVNOs, for my wife who uses the phone far more often than I do, I have settled on RedPocket 3GB data + unlimited call and text $180 annual plan that comes out to be $15/mo. For myself, I am still using two SIMS on my two phones, one from H2O and another from Airvoice, both AT&T MVNOs with prepaid $10 plan which cost me essentially $10 every 3 months or $3.33/mo per phone. I have not exceeded this $3.33/mo phone usage in the last 10 years or so.

 

Opensignal. You can install the app on your phone.

I would rather pay $15 for an MVNO than $75 for the physical carrier for the same service.

 

Old phones break down sooner than you expect, leaving you phoneless and making you rush to buy a new one. They also don't have the proper frequency bands, resulting in poor connectivity. The degraded battery only lasts for half a day.

My LG G5, which was by far the most unreliable phone I ever owned, died in its sleep one night. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G—of course, factory unlocked—which is a great phone. I am a big Android fan; however, Apple iPhone puts even the best Android phones like mine to shame in terms of hardware quality. So, I get jealous that I don't have an iPhone, which has a much better camera and much better universal mobile radio that covers virtually every single carrier in the world. To compound the problem, the Prius Prime has no Android Auto.

It is really not worth to buy the service from the physical carrier—you are basically paying 4X the MVNO for the same service.

 

The only MVNO I tried was Cricket. Found out later that I could not use my phone as a hotspot for my laptop or tablet. That's a deal breaker for me. I don't know about other MVNOs since I haven't investigated.

 

You can get a Mint Mobile SIM card for $.99 cents off of Amazon and try it out for a week to see if it suits your needs, You are not obligated beyond that.

Right now, if you purchase three months of service, you get another three months for FREE.

 

If that's telling you T mobile has the best coverage, I don't believe it. I just looked at the coverage maps on the FCC website and it's immediately obvious that Verizon and AT&T have better coverage nationally. Locally/in urban areas that may be a different situation, but in a rural area, Verizon and AT&T should be better.

5g speed on Verizon and AT&T should improve soon once the FAA let's them use the new spectrum they purchased.

 

T Mobile uses AT&T towers.

 

My Pixel XL is over 5 years old and still the battery last almost two days and the phone gives me no trouble whatsoever.

The iPhone is well-constructed. Unfortunately, it's the software quality that dooms the iPhone. I have one for work and the first day I tried using it with Car Play and found out that the iPhone doesn't let you browse music to play through Car Play. That was the end of that phone. It's been in a drawer since.

It's not the same service, though. The MVNO data is throttled and the voice is second priority over the carrier's customers.

 

My phone is 1,908 days since purchase.

 

The worst part is how wildly over optimistic those maps are. Several areas I know to be dead zones, and even two confirmed by Verizon to lack coverage, show on those maps as being tens of miles from any area of no coverage.