Following Virgin Media and O2âs merger in June 2021, weâve moving all Virgin Mobile customers over to O2âs range of plans. We started in March 2023 and now most customers have been moved across, benefitting from unlimited texts and voice calls, and either double the data or unlimited data for the same amount of money each month.
Roaming Hub. Going abroad? Enter the country you're visiting to see more about roaming charges while there. Most popular countries. Spain USA France Greece. With Roam Like Home, you can use your UK allowance of minutes, texts and data in the EU just as you would in the UK.
However, Verizon also offers excellent coverage in rural areas and usually has useable service in national parks. Comparing coverage between Verizon and T-Mobile, you'll see lots of areas where Verizon has superior coverage. Around here, that would be particularly obvious in WV where T-Mobile relies heavily on roaming agreements.
If in Ottawa fizz is better than all 3 when it comes to price. If anywhere else virgin would be your best bet as bell has the best cellular network and is the same price as Fido and Koodo. Koodo uses the Telus network. Bell and Telus share towers so their coverage is equally good.
Virgin was charging me $55 a month for 1gb and 500 minutes, plus an old phone. They would only give me a free upgrade to an iPhone 7, and wanted $5 per extra gig. If I wanted the 8 or XR, it wouldâve been $20 or $23 extra per month. I asked retentions if they would match Freedomâs deal, but they came back at $98.
Unlimited. $50/mo * FREE 50 Day Trial + $50 Gift Card. US Mobile stands out with its exceptional customer service, offering 24/7 support by phone or online chat. Try before you buy on a 50-day trial period. Mobile hotspot data allowance is dependent on the unlimited plan you choose. You'll get either 5 GB, 10 GB, or 50 GB.
RPPtvUM. Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 210+ countries and destinations: Magenta MAX (including 55+, Military, and First Responder), Magenta Plus, Magenta MAX for Business, ONE Plus, Business Unlimited Ultimate, and Magenta Amplified. Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries: Magenta (including 55+, Military, and First Responder), Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Business Unlimited Select, Business Unlimited Advanced, and Magenta for Business. Simple Choice, Select Choice, and ONE plans are also included. Data speeds up to 256 Kbps: Magenta, Magenta MAX, Magenta 55+, Magenta MAX 55+, Magenta First Responder, Magenta MAX First Responder, Magenta Military, Magenta MAX Military, Magenta Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Magenta MAX Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Magenta Amplified, Business Unlimited Select, Business Unlimited Advanced, Business Unlimited Ultimate, Magenta for Business, and Magenta MAX for Business rate plans. Simple Choice, Select Choice, and ONE plans are also included. Customers on a T-Mobile Essentials plan get unlimited texting and calling at $ per minute in 210+ countries and destinations. Sprint customers with Global Roaming benefits will now get double the data speeds than beforeââŹâup to 256 KbpsââŹâin over 200 countries and destinations. If you're on an eligible Sprint plan using a T-Mobile SIM, you now get up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries. And if youââŹâ˘re on a MAX plan with a T-Mobile SIM youââŹâ˘ll get up to 5GB of high-speed data in 210+ countries and destinations. Up to 5GB of high-Speed data in all Global Roaming countries: Included for customers who are on a T-Mobile SIM and on the following plans: Sprint MAX, Unlimited Plus, Unlimited Premium, and MAX UP with Sprint ONE Up to 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries: Included for customers on a Sprint ONE plan when using a T-Mobile SIM Global Roaming data speeds up to 256 Kbps: All Sprint plans except for Essentials Essentials plans get free texting in 210+ countries and destinations. If you need data, you can purchase International Passes to get high-speed data and calling for 1, 10, or 30 days. T-Mobile customers on qualifying plans can add an International Pass to get more high-speed data and unlimited voice calling in 210+ countries and destinations. 1-Day International Pass: 512MB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 24 hours, for $5/day. 5GB International Pass: 5GB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 10 days, for $35. 15GB International Pass: 15GB of high-speed data and unlimited calling, to be used up to 30 days, for $50. International Pass high-speed data can be used however you like throughout the designated time; youââŹâ˘re not restricted to a certain amount per day. Primary account holders and authorized users can get an International Pass by using your T-Mobile app, logging on to or following the link in the welcome text message you receive when you enter an eligible country. You can also call your Team of ExpertsĂÂŽ before your trip by dialing 611 on your mobile device. Click here to see if a destination is one of the 210+ countries and destinations that receive data and texting as part of your eligible plan. You can check your cruise coverage here. We recommend that you turn off roaming while the ship is docked at the US port. Otherwise, your phone may pick up the ship's network and you'll be charged cruise ship roaming charges for any usage. Once you're out to sea, you can then turn roaming back on and pay the respective usage for data, text, and voice.
Home Media Favorites Menu Devices Apps & Games Android Lounge Automotive App Development Smart Home Wearables Browse More I am currently on Virgin Mobile's Beyond Talk plan which is $25 per month and has 3G speeds with unlimited web, data, messaging, and email plus 300 minutes. T-Mobile has a plan that is $30 per month and has 4G speeds with unlimted web and text plus 100 minutes. I'm thinking of making the switch from Virgin Mobile to T-Mobile. Anyone know how the service compares? It's $5 more per month and has less minutes, but I'm tempted by the 4G. Download the Forums for Android⢠app! Download TMO is also GSM. It means some things will be done differently. And it will depend on the bands on your phone. TMO uses the 1700 band, but the newer phones will do 1900. TMO does have value "bring your own phone" plans where you don't get charged for a subsidized amount. For practical purposes, it means you won't be able to use the same phone on T-Mobile that you used with Virgin Mobile. I'd been using T-Mobile for 2 1/2 years before I just canceled. Great customer service. Very reliable (no dropped calls or finicky connections). Better integration with Google Voice than Virgin Mobile (not sure if that matters to you). And the 4G speeds are fast (maybe not as fast as LTE, but fast still). I ended up switching just because T-Mobile's coverage in certain less-populated areas isn't that good, and I do sometimes visit some remote suburbs (not always in urban settings). I don't know if this has changed, but when I used Virgin Mobile, it was renting its network from Sprint, and I think Sprint has better coverage than T-Mobile does (in terms of area). Hey I am thinking of switching from VM to TMO since vm is hardly breaking 1mbps. What kinds of speeds would you get from TMO (i am sure it would be a little better now since they are close to LTE). Also, how was the general coverage (3G/LTE vs 2G etc) as you went about your daily life? Thanks Ugh, always kills me when I see how much folks pay for their plans. I have to bend over every month for Verizon. Ever hear the phrase "You get what you pay for?" There's a reason the plans are so cheap. I was so tempted by their $30 monthly 4G plan that I jumped off a very grandfathered plan to take advantage of it. I was sworn to that nothing would change by way of level of customer service I was receiving. Bullsh*t. I came to find this was NOT the case. I always liked using their chat function to troubleshoot with tech when I had a problem. It kept my hands free so I coupd go through their steps on the phone. I don't know if it was just my account or if all of their customer service took a nosedive, but I found I was no longer able to chat with tech, and the troubleshooting chat reps could only tell me to pull the battery or do a factory reset. So I took my phone into the store. The chick working the counter was like "Oh yeah I can fix that, give me a few minutes." I walk around the store for a few and she calls me back. The b*tch had moved all my apps to my sd card! She did NOT ask permission to do this! What's worse, many of my widgets and shortcuts were displaying errors! I told her to put everything back and set me up for a warranty replacement. First she told me my phone was out of warranty. It was an HTC Amaze that was just launched in NOVEMBER. She did a second look and found out I was right. Then she said in order to do a warranty replacement I would have to send in my phone first and take a loaner dumbphone in the meantime since I was now on the monthly 4G plan. Again, bullsh*t. I've done several warranty replacements while on T-Mo's post paid plans and they went flawlessly. That was the tipping point for me to switch to Verizon. OP, take all this into consideration. But since you asked about speed, they are fast but coverage is a huge huge issue. ETA: T-Mo recently laid off thousands of employees and shut down 7 call centers, including one just a few miles from where I live. While getting my account set up at Verizon I had to call T-Mo to get my account number to port my phone number over. THEY'VE OUTSOURCED THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! i am hearing very mixed reviews- some folks say they are awesome, others not so much- the '4g' is what i really like however i am concerned about coverage etc- i live in a pretty suburban area, no huge distances between centers of towns and populations etc so i am confident i would have great service, but still a little ehh vm is great (for the most part) except the recent text outages and stuff like that- not sure what to do!! haha Gmash Extreme Android User Take any opinions or experiences on a forum like this with a grain of salt. ALL carrier coverage issues depend hugely on where you live and plan to use your phone. I have Cricket and have full bars everywhere in my building at work. A co worker has Verizon and barely gets a signal at all. It all depends where the towers are. Try asking people in your area about their service. Greatly depends on your location. At work inside my building/office, I get measly GPRS speeds (~50Kbps up/down). If I go outside to the parking lot, I get 1Mbps. At home 6Mbps. yeah i mean VM i am getting just about 1mbps anywhere and frequently way less- .7mbps to .5mbps at the lowest ive seen- its really sucky but i do have the $25/mo plan and the 300min while i dont use them all now is nice to have... Its an issue of sacrificing ok coverage with godawful speeds for decent speeds and no coverage haha Share This Page
Verizon T-mobile Best for Best for most Best value Monthly $75-$85/mo. $70-$80/mo. Learn more View plans View plans Verizon holds out in 1st-place in the nation in all of the most important categories: coverage, speed, and phones. But are they the right choice for everyone? What about the up-and-comer, T-Mobile? After all, T-Mobile offers better prices, great perks, and solid coverage, too. So if youâre wondering which one is right for you and are thinking about switching from Verizon to T-Mobile, or vice versa, then read on in our head-to-head comparison of T-Mobile vs. Verizon. Plans and Pricing Plan Monthly price Video streaming quality Data Coverage Taxes, fees, activation View Plans T-Mobile one $70/month 480p Unlimited at 3G speeds Up to 5GB LTE in Mexico and Canada; data at 2G speeds when international No activation fees; all included View plans T-Mobile One Plus $80/month HD Unlimited 3G + 20 GB 3G LTE Up to 5GB LTE in Mexico and Canada; data at 2G speeds when international No activation fees; all included View plans Verizon Go Unlimited $75/month 480p Unlimited 4G + 600kbps Up to 512MB of data per day in Mexico and Canada; TravelPass needed for international data (+$5-10/day) Fees are not included View plans Verizon Beyond Unlimited $85/month 720p Unlimited 4G + 15GB of 4G LTE Up to 512MB of data per day in Mexico and Canada; TravelPass needed for international data (+$5-10/day) Fees are not included View plans Above Unlimited $95/month 720p Unlimited 4G + 20GB 4G LTE Up to 512MB of data per day in Mexico and Canada; TravelPass needed for international data (+$5-10/day) Fees are not included View plans T-Mobile has fewer âgotchasâ, fewer restrictions, and better prices -- that makes them a winner in our book. Unlimited plans Having a great cell phone plan means more than just offering the lowest monthly rate. You also need add-ons and a great balance between data, coverage, and speeds. T-Mobile simply wins this round. Not only is T-Mobileâs lone unlimited plan cheaper than any of Verizonâs unlimited options (starting at $70/month vs. $75), but itâs less restrictive, too. You only get your data slowed down if you hit 50GB during the billing period â Verizonâs similarly-priced plan, Go Unlimited, reserves the right to throttle your speed at any time. Verizonâs Beyond Unlimited gives you just a 23GB threshold, with only the Above Unlimited plan (75GB) exceeding T-Mobileâs data limit. Although both T-Mobile and Verizon Go Unlimited restrict video streaming to 480p, you can upgrade to T-Mobile One Plus for HD streaming and other extras like 10GB of LTE hotspot data and free Wi-Fi on Gogo-enabled flightsâ for just an extra $10/month. Thatâs still cheaper than T-Mobileâs Beyond Unlimited, which costs $85/month for similar extra features. Another area to note is that T-Mobile doesnât require any contracts â you pay by the month and cancel at any time. Verizon doesnât either, but when they did away with their 2-year contracts in 2017, they raised their activation fee from $20 to $30 and upgrade fees to $20. T-Mobile eliminated their activation fees. Each of these costs for T-Mobile includes taxes and fees, which we love: what you see is what you getâ no added fees. Family Plans Plan 1 Line 2 Lines 3 Lines 4 Lines View Plan T-Mobile One $70/mo. $120/mo. $140/mo. $160/mo. View plans Verizon Go Unlimited $75/mo. $130/mo. $150/mo. $160/mo. View plans Verizon Beyond Unlimited $85/mo. $160/mo. $180/mo. $200/mo. View plans T-Mobile also comes out on top with family plans. A family of 4 will pay $160/month for unlimited data. The equivalent plan at Verizon â Beyond Unlimited â costs you $200/month. Other plans If youâre a single user who doesnât need unlimited data, both carriers also offer a selection of prepaid plans, and T-Mobile has an Unlimited Talk and Text (no data) plan, as well â a great option for those of us who want to be less connected. Verizon T-Mobile Extra fees The âwhat you see is what you getâ principle we commended T-Mobile for earlier still applies here: there are no extra fees â all taxes and fees are included in their listed price, and thereâs not even an activation fee. Verizon, however, has a laundry list added to your monthly rate: one-time activation of $30/new line, $20/line/month line access charge, varying network surcharges, plus tax (or higher, depending on state). When it comes to contract termination fees, the good news comes from T-Mobile again: they have no contracts, so you donât have to pay any termination fees if you cancel your account. Verizon, however, charges you between $175 and $350 to terminate your contract, depending on your device. Winner: T-Mobile for better pricing, fewer restrictions, and zero âgotchas.â Coverage T-Mobile Verizon Coverage is always a tricky category. As long as where you live is covered thatâs all that really matters, right? I mean, if T-Mobile only covered Antarctica and Verizon covered all the rest, but you lived in Antarctica, then T-Mobile would be your personal winner, right? Unfortunately for T-Mobile, they donât cover Antarctica, we donât live there even if they did, and as a reviewer coverage area matters. While Verizon wins this category due to covering a larger percentage of the country, T-Mobileâs loss isnât really as bad as it might look since they still cover the more populated Verizon. Performance In the 2019 OpenSignal report, OpenSignal declared Verizon the winner in nearly all their measured categories. Thatâs a stark contrast from previous reports, wherein OpenSignalâs own words were âaccustomed to handling T-Mobile accoladesâ. Verizon has made a comeback in the last 6 months, with T-Mobile coming in a close second. And we do mean close second. They were only behind in 4G (a lead over Verizon in Download Speed was a tie for some reason though?). They also only lost Upload speed by Their most significant loss, in video experience, was a category that every provider was mediocre at. RootMetrics, who have declared Verizon the overall winner for 10 years, ranked them 1st once again, making this the Big Redâs 11th consecutive year topping the scoreboard. Powerâs Customer Care study muddies the waters a bit by awarding T-Mobile an 833 and Verizon a second-place score of 812. You could view this as an endorsement of their customer experience, but we can tell you that when it comes to figuring out the basic details of a plan, Verizon wins hands down; we had to visit half a dozen pages to even find all the plans that T-Mobile Verizon takes the category. Phone selection Most flagship phones are available at just about every major carrierâ both T-Mobile and Verizon offer the latest iPhones and Androids. However, Verizon is the only carrier who you can buy Googleâs Pixel phones from directly. They also landed the Moto devices before any others, although those are now available at T-Mobile, counter, T-Mobile has a wider device selection when it comes to the more budget-conscious among us. They offer a solid selection of phones under $200 from LG and Samsung, as well as the branded Revvl. And itâs worth noting that you can buy a Pixel from Google, then take it to any carrier you want. You can bring your phone over to either carrier, but with T-Mobile your unlocked phone is more likely to work with their GSM-based networkâ something Verizon canât say. Winner: Verizon wins for its exclusivesâ T-Mobile wins affordability and greater compatibility with unlocked phones Customer service Power ranked T-Mobile as the highest full-service carrier (833), with Verizon coming in close behind (812). That shouldnât be wondered at too much, with T-Mobileâs new âteam of expertsâ program, which immediately connects customers with real humans when they call or initiate an online chat. Thatâs something the other carriers need to emulate to beat. Winner: T-Mobile. Perks With more perks and extras included into their monthly rates, T-Mobile easily wins this one. Both Verizon and T-Mobile know how to add a little sugar to the deals they offer, with both providing some interesting perks. T-Mobile - Traveler perks T-Mobile gives subscribers all the perks. To start with, T-Mobile ONE gives you an hour of inflight data and free inflight texting so long as your flight is GoGo-enabled; upgrade to ONE Plus and you get unlimited data. And once arrive at your international destination, youâll be able to text and use data in 140+ countries worldwide. T-Mobile - Netflix + T-Mobile Tuesdays But if youâre not a big traveler, no big deal â T-Mobile still has some perks for you. Netflix is free with 2 or more lines, and everyone regardless of number of lines has access to T-Mobile Tuesdays. T-Mobile Tuesdays provide rewards to all T-Mobile customers that can include free movies, sports tickets, and more. Nice. Verizon - Verizon Up In comparison to T-Mobile, Verizonâs perks are pretty scant. You can use data when traveling, but you need to pay an additional $5-10 per day, depending on the country, for a TravelPass. But Verizon has itâs own rewards program: Verizon Up. Itâs rewards are similar to T-Mobile Tuesdaysâ, but Verizon has customers earn âcreditsâ to use as currency. It works like this: spend $300 and you get a credit; for every credit you earn, thatâs one reward. Winner: This one should be ultra-clear: with more perks and extras included into their monthly rates, T-Mobile easily wins this one. Recap -- who wins? Thereâs a reason carrier rankings are so tight at the top⌠so thereâs just one question to ask: what do you care about most? Both carriers are pretty neck-and-neckâ where Verizon wins one area, T-Mobile wins another. In our comparison, both carriers won 3 areas won in coverage, performance, and device selectionâ but lost when they split their unlimited offerings into separate tiers and came up short in customer service. The Un-carrier provides a lower monthly bill, better perks, and stronger customer serviceâ but their coverage and network performance falls up short. To Sum Up: Verizon is more expensive than T-Mobile, but in some cases theyâre definitely worth the money. Verizon has:Better coverage. So if you live in a rural area, youâll be better off. Better devices. While T-Mobile has added the Google Pixel to their lineup, Verizon has had them longer and has some of the first models for those on a budget. Better speed. Again, Verizon has better speeds â although itâs a close race. We love how T-Mobile includes their taxes and fees into the monthly price â that sets a good tone right off the bat. But T-Mobileâs rural performance is subpar to Verizon. But, T-Mobile has: Better data. T-Mobile gives you a 50GB soft data cap, more than double Verizonâs perks + Internationals: T-Mobileâs T-Mobile Tuesday doesnât require you to spend a certain amount of money or do anything special â youâre automatically enrolled. Plus you can score a free Netflix subscription and solid international service while a reason that carrier rankings are so tight â itâs a close race between pretty evenly matched competitors. And with that narrow gap, thereâs just one question to ask: what do you care about most? FAQs Does either carrier have overage charges? T-Mobile provides a very generous 50GB per month soft data cap. The best part? You wonât even see any overage fees, either â just some slow-down. But 50GB of data per month is a wildly high cap â you could stream standard definition video for an hour every single day without coming close to it. Verizon, on the other hand, has a data cap of 22GB per month, and for every 1 GB that you pass over that cap, youâll be charged $15. Does either carrier allow you to bring your own phone? Yes, both carriers allow you to bring your own phone, or as Verizon says, âBYOD.â That said, not every device is compatible with the carriersâ network. But when it comes to that, T-Mobile is a little more âBYODâ-friendly, with a higher chance of compatibility although if you have any questions you should call them or look into it more yourself. Last one -- can I keep my old phone number? Luke is the managing editor and site manager of Dailywireless. As a wireless enthusiast/consumer, he reviews a lot of services based on his own experience. Disgruntled as he may be, he tries to keep his articles as honest as possible.
Usually, following a new iPhone launch the price of a previous models is discounted. This time Apple chose to eliminate the iPhone 5. Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile. has cut the price of the iPhone 4 down to $ today September 15. (A total price chart follows that compares Virgin Mobile to Straight Talk, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T) Yup, you can get iPhone 4 8GB in Black or and White for $ from Virgin Mobile. That is without a contract. Remember although you can legally unlock an iPhone from Sprint, you may have trouble unlocking a Virgin Mobile iPhone 4. It's probably a good idea not to buy the iPhone 4 from Virgin Mobile for purposes of just buying a cheap iPhone. iPhone 4 Pricing with Contract for the Big Carriers The iPhone 4 came out in 2010 and this could be blow-out sale so get your credit card ready. The iPhone 4 is no longer available from AT&T except as a refurbished model for free with a contract. Sprint's website shows that it is still selling the iPhone 4 for free with a contract and does the Verizon Wireless. However, if you buy an iPhone 4 from them you will be stuck with a two-year contract even though you will be the phone for next to nothing upfront. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint Network. You can not use an unlocked phone from another carrier for Virgin Mobile like you can do with Straight Talk. As of this writing, Straight Talk was selling the iPhone 4 for $ they may be discounted when they see that their closet competitor the Virgin Mobile has reduced the price. Straight Talk is Virgin Mobile's closest competitor when you figure overall cost. Straight Talk does not reveal what network it uses, many believe it is T-Mobile. Previously, we took out our spreadsheet to determine that the absolutely cheapest deal for the iPhone 5 was Virgin Mobile. Now for at least today as long as there is stock Virgin Mobile is the best deal for the iPhone 4. Virgin Mobile Plans Cheaper with AutoPay for iPhone 4 Virgin Mobile starts at $35 per month but customers can also receive a $5 per-month plan discount when they register and sign up for automatic monthly payments [âAuto Payâ] with a credit card, debit card or PayPal account, making the iPhone 4 available on for as low as $30 per month for 300 voice minutes unlimited text and data. The next plan up is 1200 minutes for $45 and unlimited minutes for $50 a month. The plans can be reduced by paying with Auto Pay. All Virgin Mobile smartphone plans include of high speed data. Virgin Mobile clearly calls its unlimited data that is throttled afterwards. We calculated the cost of the iPhone 4 across carriers and prepaid services with prices we found on the carrier websites on Friday September 13, the price of the actual iPhone 4 may drop at midnight September 15. We have only been notified of the Virgin Mobile price drop. We suspect that the iPhone 4 is in limited quantities and may sell out. The iPhone 4 will be updated to iOS 7 which is due out September 18. Therefore you will get the latest operation system with 2010 hardware. The only drawback is that it has a touchscreen. The main improvements on the iPhone 4S over the iPhone 4 are the processor, camera and radio. The new iPhone 4S has a 1430mAh battery, 10mAh more than the iPhone 4, 210mAh more than the iPhone 3GS. Now let's look at the numbers over two years the best deal for the iPhone 4 is: iPhone 4 Total Pricing for 2 Years Compares, Virgin Mobile vs Straight Talk vs T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint & AT&T. Click on the chart to see larger.
Dirt cheap data plans: Virgin Mobiles vs T-Mobile Thread starter desura Start date Aug 30, 2013 Mar 22, 2013 4,627 129 101 #1 These are the two I know of. Virgin Mobile runs off the sprint network. It's $35/mo (or $30 if you pay several months in advance I believe). Phones are unsubsidized, but 2 year cost compared to Sprint is like half. 300 minutes + "unlimited" data. T-Mobile has their own network, though I'm not sure how good it is. $30/mo. Kind of hard to find. Big plus in my book is that they seem to have more options in way of phones, and so you can take any unlocked phone, like the recently price-dropped Nexus 4, and go on their network. 100 minutes + 5gb fast internet and then throttled internet afterwards. How do they compare? #2 T-Mobile has worse coverage but is significantly faster. Sprint is so slow that they honestly shouldn't be a consideration by anyone for any reason. #4 It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison. Mar 22, 2013 4,627 129 101 #5 You might want to look at the currently active 'Should I Switch to Sprint' thread: Well, that was easy. Right now I'm still using a flip phone on...sprint. Doing the maths and stuff...I can actually upgrade to the Tmobile $30/mo plan and a smartphone, and actually pay roughly the same as I currently pay to sprint for the dumbphone (it's on a family plan and stuff) Feb 24, 2000 78,794 261 116 #6 It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison. Exactly. Sprint has some of the best all you can talk/text/data plans but the coverage is absolutely horrendous. What good is a great deal if you only have 0 or 1 bars of coverage? Ask your friends, family and co-workers which providers offer the best coverage then start looking for a good deal. If T-Mobile has great coverage in your area, I'm a huge fan of Platinum Tel esp if you load up on their 50% off coupons (assuming it's still working of course). Feb 24, 2000 78,794 261 116 #8 Counterpoint- I recently switched from Sprint, not prepaid, to T-Mobile prepaid, the same $30 100minute/5 gb data discussed. Wher I live Sprint's coverage wasn't good, but I could roam for free so I usually could make calls. T-Mobile's coverage is just as bad but now I just don't have any signal at all sometimes. I take road trips. On the interstates I could pretty much always use Google maps anywhere on Sprint, sometimes it was a little slow to DL maps, but it worked. With T-Mobile MOST of the time I could not get any maps to DL at all. My point isn't that T-Mobile is bad but people shouldn't be so quick to diss Sprint. Whe it comes to coverage its not Verizon, but neither is anyone else. #9 Counterpoint- I recently switched from Sprint, not prepaid, to T-Mobile prepaid, the same $30 100minute/5 gb data discussed. Wher I live Sprint's coverage wasn't good, but I could roam for free so I usually could make calls. T-Mobile's coverage is just as bad but now I just don't have any signal at all sometimes. I take road trips. On the interstates I could pretty much always use Google maps anywhere on Sprint, sometimes it was a little slow to DL maps, but it worked. With T-Mobile MOST of the time I could not get any maps to DL at all. My point isn't that T-Mobile is bad but people shouldn't be so quick to diss Sprint. When it comes to coverage its not Verizon, but neither is anyone else. You are comparing T-Mobile pre-paid vs. Sprint non-Prepaid which isn't much of a valid comparison. Apples to oranges. About as useful as comparing Virgin Mobile pre-paid vs Verizon non-prepaid. I don't recommend any of T-Mobile's prepaid plans because there is no roaming and coverage is much worse. And FYI, Virgin Mobile has much worse coverage than Sprint and there is no roaming as well. Virgin Mobile(which is a Sprint prepaid plan) vs T-Mobile prepaid is a more valid comparison. #10 And FYI, Virgin Mobile has much worse coverage than Sprint and there is no roaming as well. Virgin Mobile(which is a Sprint prepaid plan) vs T-Mobile prepaid is a more valid comparison. I've personally found Virgin Mobile coverage to be identical to Sprint (I was on Virgin Mobile for about 3 years) where we live. The only difference is where Sprint hands the connection over to Verizon roaming. The real differences were the individual phones (some phones have better signal reception than others) and the ability to roam. Might not be this way everywhere, but definitely everywhere I traveled. #11 I've personally found Virgin Mobile coverage to be identical to Sprint (I was on Virgin Mobile for about 3 years) where we live. The only difference is where Sprint hands the connection over to Verizon roaming. The real differences were the individual phones (some phones have better signal reception than others) and the ability to roam. Might not be this way everywhere, but definitely everywhere I traveled. You are an anomaly...I'll let the actual maps speak for themselves. Virgin Mobile coverage: Sprint coverage: #12 I am on Virgin and have no complaints. Then again I live in an area with Sprint LTE and have an LTE phone. #13 Assuming that TMO has decent coverage in your area, its a no brainer to go with them. The wider choices in phones is a huge point in their favor. Virgin Mobile is limited to a subset of variations of Sprint devices. #14 If you actually research those maps you will see that Virgin's coverage of interstate travel isn't that different from Sprints. Which makes sense because along interstates Sprint has pretty good 3g coverage. Its not as good as Verizon's, last time I checked it was about on par with ATT. And those 3 are the only carriers that cover interstate travel to any substantial degree. Which is important for things like searching for gas stations, pois, etc, while traveling. #15 Last edited: Aug 31, 2013 #17 chose VM over tmobile due to cheaper with a usable number of minutes. their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc. Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds. I think their throttling algorithm kicks in sometimes too when it shouldn't (I never use >1GB data and according to them it shouldn't kick in before because a lot of the time when I'm on 1xRTT I'll enable WiMax and it'll be no faster. Other times WiMax is super fast and it's fantastic. Usually I'm very happy with VM. Seem better than metroPCS #18 I've used tmos $30 UL plan for over two years now and I still love it. I used to have VZW back in the 3G UL days and I've prob saved $1K since switching. I've moved back and forth between CA and WA and coverage is good for me in these metro areas. Dec 17, 2008 2,129 222 106 #19 Virgin Mobile unlimited data throttles after a certain amount (2 or Gbs if I recall) Virgin Mobile uses the sprint network. It is different than the contract sprint for contract sprint can roam on verizon network so make sure you have coverage. You can't choose your device with Virgin you have to select from their limited choices. T-Mobile's "Walmart" plan gets you 5GBs of high speed data. T-Mobile contract phones getter better coverage than the Wal-Mart prepaid plans since you do not roam on the prepaid plan. You can choose any compatible sim device with T-Mobile It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison. This, this, a hundred times this. If equal coverage get T-Mobile for you can get something like a nexus or a good used phone for cheap, but you can have the cheapest phone or the most expensive phone and you get crappy coverage and suddenly it doesn't matter. Oct 27, 2000 9,904 510 136 #20 their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc. Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds. I think most people think it's slow because 100KB IS slow. That's barely fast decent enough to stream music. I know because I had sprint and my music would always skip. I switched to TMo and average 3mbps, which is what I averaged on sprint LTE. On tmobile LTE I see 10-15. Sprints 3g is horrible and their 4G is still only as fast as others 3g. #21 Sprint is so slow that they honestly shouldn't be a consideration by anyone for any reason. And now I'm stuck with 1 year and 10 months left to go with them. But I thought what the heck Sprint is cheaper than Verizon or ATT for unlimited data. Not saying it's worth it. Did XtremeLabs speed testing with their mobile app. Don't really want to post the results. Using the Samsung GS4 btw. #22 chose VM over tmobile due to cheaper with a usable number of minutes. their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc. Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds. I think their throttling algorithm kicks in sometimes too when it shouldn't (I never use >1GB data and according to them it shouldn't kick in before because a lot of the time when I'm on 1xRTT I'll enable WiMax and it'll be no faster. Other times WiMax is super fast and it's fantastic. Usually I'm very happy with VM. Seem better than metroPCS You consider 100KB/s on 3G to be fast? D: That's just terrible. On Straight Talk, I got 5 times that amount. Umm...If you "routinely"(translation: once in a while) get 100KB/s, but "a lot of time"(translation: mostly) I get 1xRTT why wouldn't anyone have a right to think Sprint has terrible speeds? And now I'm stuck with 1 year and 10 months left to go with them. But I thought what the heck Sprint is cheaper than Verizon or ATT for unlimited data. Not saying it's worth it. Did XtremeLabs speed testing with their mobile app. Don't really want to post the results. Using the Samsung GS4 btw. The results are that bad that you're ashamed to post them? Good Lord... For me, Sprint was just as expensive as AT&T and Verizon(or maybe only $10/month less which is essentially peanuts) when I checked them. Hopefully this SoftBank acquisition will make Sprint competitive(both in terms of prices with T-Mobile and coverage with Verizon/AT&T), because as it is now they're not. Mar 22, 2013 4,627 129 101 #23 Blah, I just realized that Tmobile has *no* coverage in my area. The coverage maps for Tmobile are really misleading, because they also count their roaming agreement with ATT...which isn't available on the $30 plan. So then the next closest thing available for me is the Virgin Mobile, either an iphone 4s for $350 about, or a Galaxy SIII for about $330. It's $30/mo with automatic billing. Which...kinda sucks. I was excited for getting the cheap Nokia 521. Thanks to the HSN for putting the brakes before I purchased. I thought that as time went on, the coverage would improve, but it appears to not be the case. Anyone tried Republic Wireless? I'd try it if the phone weren't so lousy. #24 I heard that StraightTalk has ATT sims again so that might be an option. Mar 22, 2013 4,627 129 101 #25 Right now I'm thinking that I might be able to justify a Nokia 820 purchase for use offline. micro-sd card means I can put lots of music on it. But the true killer app appears to be Nokia drive, which is offline navigation (GPS?). The main reason for me to have a smartphone is for navigation functions, honestly. Advertising Cookies Policies Privacy Term & Conditions About us This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
virgin mobile vs t mobile
