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We're ordering our picks by how much you want to spend per month, to give you the best value at every price level. We also get a lot of comments from people who wonder why their phone service isn't listed, so at the bottom we put the plans we didn't choose, and why they didn't make the cut. If you do, make sure to explain why in the comments.
Many of these smaller carriers don't sell their own phones, or if they do, they sell an oddball selection. Your best bet, almost always, is to buy a new unlocked phone, or to buy a used phone that's compatible with the right network. They may also work with your old device from your previous carrier. If you're looking for an unlocked phone that works on all four major US systems, look at any iPhone that's of the 6s or later varieties, the Samsung Galaxy S7 or higher, the Google Pixel line, or the Moto E4, G4, or G5.
Or take a look at our list of The Best Unlocked Phones. In general, when you turn to these less-prominent carriers, you're not going to get the sort of customer service you get from the Big Four. Yes, I can hear you laughing. But the main issue is that if something goes wrong with your SIM, you won't have a physical store to go and get help at — you'll be stuck dealing with scripted employees at outsourced call centers, and often they know less than a tech-savvy consumer does.
If that worries you, there are two lesser-known carriers that consistently get strong ratings for customer service: Consumer Cellular and Republic Wireless. You can also turn to the wholly owned brands of the big carriers, which have their own store networks: Also, read the comments. This story has been around for a long while, and I keep the comments intact because they're a great chronicle of the trouble people have signing up for some of these services.
Let's start at the bottom.
That's usable for, say, an emergency glove compartment phone, or a phone for a small child who only calls when the bus is late. I'm a little nervous about SpeedTalk because it has a very bad website full of errors, but I haven't heard any actual complaints about the company.
That's a terrific deal. With those options, we can do away with Scratch Wireless which has a very poor selection of phones and TracFone which can be very cheap if you play a complicated game of minute-doubled reload cards. US Mobile no longer offers the Simple Plan that we recommended previously.
Consumer Cellular gets great reviews from our readers for being an easy-to-use, senior-focused system with excellent customer service. Mint Mobile has a wonderful gimmick: It sells you three to 12 months of service on T-Mobile's network at a time, in exchange for deep discounts.
There are extra perks as well. As with GoUnlimited, the prices for the BeyondUnlimited plans do not include taxes or other fees and assumes you will sign up to use AutoPay. The best unlimited data plans will combine limitless data with all the talking and texting you could dream of each month. Finishing off our network list, let's feature a Verizon offer: If that worries you, there are two lesser-known carriers that consistently get strong ratings for customer service: Just to let you know saskatchewan has sasktel which i am sure helps keeps the rates in this province much lower than alberta for example. All of these plans include what Verizon calls Safety Mode.
It often has some amazing limited-time promotions, but even the standard rates are great. The company also has 5GB and 10GB plans. Republic Wireless is beloved for its customer service.
Finishing off our network list, let's feature a Verizon offer: Several carriers offer "custom" plans where you can fit together different amounts of talk, text, and data to taste. The best deals on those custom plans right now come from US Mobile for talkers, or Twigby for texters and data users. Ting and Tello , which have similar business plans, also have their fans, but we didn't find them to be the best service plans at this price level.
Ting does have one advantage, though: Across the board, most calls lasted under 10 minutes. During the time I spoke to representatives, I stuck to our regular script:. I use about minutes a month, send about text messages and need enough data to check my email and social media throughout the day. I have family in the U. Most of the conversations were straightforward and easy to understand.
Most calls lasted between three minutes and 14 minutes — the longest being Rogers, followed by Virgin Mobile at nine minutes who put me on hold for about half of the call. The fastest call was with Freedom Mobile, however, it felt like I was being rushed off the phone toward the end. So before you sign your life away under another two-year contract, check out below to see what we found in our research. Not only can this information give you a better sense of the company you may be signing with and what they offer, but it arms you with the knowledge you need to negotiate your next cellphone deal.
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