MVNO Mobile Data Priority Comparison (Why I Switched to US Cellular) – My Money Blog

I haven’t paid “full price” for a cell phone plan in decades, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been compromises. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) buy network capacity in bulk from large carriers (MNOs such as T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) and resell it to individual customers. For a while, the main trade-off for choosing an MVNO (which buys bulk minutes and data from the major carriers) was slightly worse mobile coverage due to a lack of roaming agreements with other carriers. If you were on an AT&T MVNO, you would only be able to use AT&T cell towers.

Today, the main catch is deprioritizing data. To manage 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 at events like concerts and sporting events, there is a lot of demand and those who are not at the front of the line will notice slow or no data.

This r/NoContract Reddit post provides an excellent collection of the major airlines’ data prioritization policies. It’s still a lot, so I’ve tried to summarize everything as best I can below.

For Verizon, QCI 8 is the highest priority level for consumers. Inclusive:

• 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” (*only for 5G with Premium)

QCI 9 is a step lower, the basic level. Inclusive:

• Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan (their most basic plan)
• Visible basic subscription
• 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. Inclusive:

• Select AT&T plans with special “Turbo” data.

QCI 8 is a step down, but still considered higher priority. Inclusive:

• 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 one step lower, the basic level. Inclusive:

• AT&T Basic Unlimited plans for both AT&T Postpaid and AT&T Prepaid.
• All other AT&T plans once “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. Inclusive:

• All T-Mobile Postpaid and Prepaid subscriptions (except “Essentials”)
• Google Fi

QCI 7 is a step lower, the basic level. Inclusive:

• T-Mobile Essentials plans (their most basic plan)
• All other T-Mobile prepaid MVNOs, including Metro and Mint Mobile (both owned by T-Mobile).

Longtime readers will know that I worked at Mint Mobile for a long time. I didn’t need much data then. But every year I felt the low priority of Mint Mobile data becoming more and more apparent. Wherever it is busy, even in an airport, everything would slow down considerably. Many times I actually had no data at all, which was very frustrating when all I was trying to do was call an Uber. T-Mobile sells a lot of data to MVNOs, so maybe that’s another reason. I tried switching to Visible at first, 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 regarding 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 have a lot of promotions (which they often renew over and over again), but I switched to the Warp plan with Unlimited Premium because it also included a free Apple Watch cellular plan. I’m paying a little more than I used to with Mint Mobile, but I’ve definitely noticed the improvement in data quality. My number transfer was almost instantaneous. I can even switch with their Unlimited Premium plan between free networks if one place has better coverage, giving me access to AT&T and T-Mobile towers.

I’m happy with US Mobile because I now have high data speeds, multi-network coverage, reasonable costs, And decent customer service.

The current one US winter phone deal is on Dark Star (AT&T). Unlimited Starter for $119/year prepaid ($9.92/month) for the first year (regular data priority) with promo code WINTER119 And Unlimited Premium for $149/year prepaid ($12.42/month) for the first year (which offers higher data priority and other benefits) 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 a additional $25 off:

To qualify for the $25 referral bonus, you must maintain an active paid service in good standing for six months, transfer to a new line, and spend a total of $100 on Unlimited, By the Gig, or Smartwatch plans. Other subscriptions, top-ups, devices, add-ons, roaming and certain promotions (listed at usmobile.com/promo-archive) are excluded. Annual subscriptions are prorated monthly (for example, €228 equals €114 after 6 months).

If you want a deal on Verizon (Warp), I’d wait a little longer. However, it will probably never be as cheap as this Dark Star (AT&T) deal. I paid $299 for a year of Unlimited Premium (including Priority Data and Apple Watch cellular plan) during a previous sale. The full renewal price is $390/year ($32.50/month), which is still much cheaper than any traditional plan after you add taxes/fees and $10/month for the Apple Watch add-on.