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Carrier Cricket Wireless questions

danpass

danpass

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 27, 2009
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Glory
Good morning.

I'm seriously considering Cricket Wireless. I did a title search for Cricket and most threads are rather dated.

I am currently on ATT with an iPhone 6 Plus, Family Share plan, 4GB.

I do use the hotspot feature at times, with my laptop, and would like to keep that option.

Both my IMEI and phone number show on the CW as capable of being ported over. But my contract goes until Nov 2016.


I'm looking at the $60/mo plan. What are the various considerations involved here? Will I still be able to hotspot?

Thanks.
 
You can't hotspot on iPhone on cricket. I moved to cricket from AT&T last year and couldn't have been happier.

I pay $90 including tax for 2 lines which include 5Gb each. The equivalent plan on AT&T would cost me $150 with tax.

I bought two iPhone 6S Pluses outright but i am saving $60 each month on service.
 
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danpass said:
Good morning.

I'm seriously considering Cricket Wireless. I did a title search for Cricket and most threads are rather dated.

I am currently on ATT with an iPhone 6 Plus, Family Share plan, 4GB.

I do use the hotspot feature at times, with my laptop, and would like to keep that option.

Both my IMEI and phone number show on the CW as capable of being ported over. But my contract goes until Nov 2016.


I'm looking at the $60/mo plan. What are the various considerations involved here? Will I still be able to hotspot?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Switched way back when the service was called Aio. It's been real good, no complaints. Has saved me bundles.

But PersonalHotspot is blocked for iPhone. Try TMobile.
 
Ok, thanks.

Will an APN flash correct the hotspot issue?

What if I went with a Blackberry? Such as the Classic. (yeah, yeah I know, lol)
 
Hotspot currently is not available on iPhone, here is the list of phones that they do support: https://www.cricketwireless.com/con...tspot/customer/hotspot-compatible-phones.html

Only other "catch" is their LTE data is capped at about 8 Mbps, I say catch because some people can't live with that. I've been a customer for couple years now, and I've been very happy. Last fall, they were offering doubling their highest teir plan at no extra charge and I'm grandfathered into that, so I'm paying $55 for 20gigs of data.
 
madsci954 said:
Hotspot currently is not available on iPhone, here is the list of phones that they do support: https://www.cricketwireless.com/con...tspot/customer/hotspot-compatible-phones.html

Only other "catch" is their LTE data is capped at about 8 Mbps, I say catch because some people can't live with that. I've been a customer for couple years now, and I've been very happy. Last fall, they were offering doubling their highest teir plan at no extra charge and I'm grandfathered into that, so I'm paying $55 for 20gigs of data.
Click to expand...

After you hit your max data limit is it throttled data or they charge you more for overages? If its throttled how slow is the throttled speed? Does wifi calling work?
 
Cricket's plans caught my eye when I noticed that the $50 plan even includes roaming in Canada, which is great since I live near the border. I didn't realize that they don't support hotspot on iPhone even if you pay the $10 extra fee, so that's definitely a bummer.

Unfortunately, my parents have almost no cell reception with any carrier at their house, and Cricket doesn't seem to support Wi-Fi calling and definitely doesn't offer a femtocell like AT&T's M-Cell. I would have to look into installing a cellular booster on their roof or something.
 
ToroidalZeus said:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/prepaid-carrier-performance,news-21331.html

Cricket Wireless has terrible data speeds. I mean you always get what you pay for but in this case the marginal cost savings aren't worth the dramatically worse speeds.
Click to expand...

Those are averages and averages carry important average data but a single user is a single data point. You'll need to test a carrier in the area you plan on using the device to see if it works for you.

I have Verizon and I never get more than 5mbs in my area (Northern Baltimore). My g/f has cricket and it dominates Verizon in this area by a huge margin. And in real world use its difficult to "feel" 5mbs from 20mbs on an iPhone.

IMG_0239.PNG

Employer pays for Verizon for me or I'd switch to ATT (or Cricket) in a heartbeat.
 
Applejuiced said:
After you hit your max data limit is it throttled data or they charge you more for overages? If its throttled how slow is the throttled speed? Does wifi calling work?
Click to expand...

You can pay $10 for an extra gig for the month or add it in for consecutive months, but it's optional. After you hit your soft cap, you get throttled down to about 120 Kbps until the month resets.
 
Took my 6 from AT&T to Cricket last November. It runs on the same network and I haven't noticed a difference in coverage.

I don't believe that they offer tethering. And some SMS short codes won't seem to deliver. Otherwise, the switch has been great.
 
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Applejuiced said:
Damn that's slow. And no wifi calling is a deal breaker for me.
Click to expand...

You are just given the option to pay (less) for overage or be throttled. I maybe wrong but I don't think Verizon and/or ATT give you that choice do they?

I don't think Verizon offers wifi calling to iPhone users yet either do they?

To me it's hard for me to find much fault in Cricket when comparing to their big brother ATT or competition Verizon. Specific users looking for certain features like wifi calling and tethering (on iPhone) might not be too thrilled but average consumer will probably be pleasantly surprised and over overlook those features when they get their lower monthly bill.

Edit : derp, I'm so used to buying devices outright I completely forgot some people finance their phones or whatever. That is a reason someone may not want to and/or be able to choose cricket.
 
cynics said:
You are just given the option to pay (less) for overage or be throttled. I maybe wrong but I don't think Verizon and/or ATT give you that choice do they?

I don't think Verizon offers wifi calling to iPhone users yet either do they?

To me it's hard for me to find much fault in Cricket when comparing to their big brother ATT or competition Verizon. Specific users looking for certain features like wifi calling and tethering (on iPhone) might not be too thrilled but average consumer will probably be pleasantly surprised and over overlook those features when they get their lower monthly bill.

Edit : derp, I'm so used to buying devices outright I completely forgot some people finance their phones or whatever. That is a reason someone may not want to and/or be able to choose cricket.
Click to expand...

Verizon is the only major carrier still with no wifi calling. I get sometimes in basements or bad reception areas so wifi calling is great. I don't mind losing tethering since I'm jb I can tether unofficially.
Currently on unlimited AT&T data I get throttled passed 22gb and the throttling is at 1mb. I know with tmobile and others throttling will be less bearable.
 
I have had Sprint for 14 years and every year its gets more expensive to use a phone with them. I was looking into Cricket because I like the $40/mo plans but with my wife on a plan it would be $70 with the share discount. Plus I have to buy upfront a phone. I currently pay $158/mo with sprint for 4G and 2 leased iPhone 6 128G with about 6 months left on my contract. Is cricket a legit carrier? I was looking to buy possibly a 5s reman and run it on the cricket network. I would be saving about $60-70/mo with the wife
 
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Slimmyhendrix said:
I have had Sprint for 14 years and every year its gets more expensive to use a phone with them. I was looking into Cricket because I like the $40/mo plans but with my wife on a plan it would be $70 with the share discount. Plus I have to buy upfront a phone. I currently pay $158/mo with sprint for 4G and 2 leased iPhone 6 128G with about 6 months left on my contract. Is cricket a legit carrier? I was looking to buy possibly a 5s reman and run it on the cricket network. I would be saving about $60-70/mo with the wife
Click to expand...


I used to be a Sprint rep and switched to cricket after I left the company and couldn't be happier. Coverage where I am (Northeast Wisconsin) is night and day between the two, as places I was roaming or had no signal with sprint get 2-3 bars of LTE with cricket. Your mileage may vary obviously. I'm actually using an unlocked iPhone 6+ from sprint on cricket, so if you paid off the phones you could get them unlocked and not need to buy new hardware.

They do limit LTE to 8Mbps, but it really hasn't been an issue.
 
Slimmyhendrix said:
I have had Sprint for 14 years and every year its gets more expensive to use a phone with them. I was looking into Cricket because I like the $40/mo plans but with my wife on a plan it would be $70 with the share discount. Plus I have to buy upfront a phone. I currently pay $158/mo with sprint for 4G and 2 leased iPhone 6 128G with about 6 months left on my contract. Is cricket a legit carrier? I was looking to buy possibly a 5s reman and run it on the cricket network. I would be saving about $60-70/mo with the wife
Click to expand...
Yeah cricket is awesome, Me and some family members have been with them for over a year now. It's definitely worth the switch. And you'll be getting a better network at half the price.
 
aconnell11 said:
I used to be a Sprint rep and switched to cricket after I left the company and couldn't be happier. Coverage where I am (Northeast Wisconsin) is night and day between the two, as places I was roaming or had no signal with sprint get 2-3 bars of LTE with cricket. Your mileage may vary obviously. I'm actually using an unlocked iPhone 6+ from sprint on cricket, so if you paid off the phones you could get them unlocked and not need to buy new hardware.

They do limit LTE to 8Mbps, but it really hasn't been an issue.
Click to expand...
Thanks man,
I don't like the 6 size. It's too big for everyday use. I want to downsize to a 5 size and have an iPad for app usage.

I am leasing the phones right now so to buy them outright would be about $400 end of contract. Doesn't make much sense.
 
Cricket has the iPhone 5s on their website right now for $199 for the 16 GB silver version. It's reportedly a new phone.
 
danpass said:
Good morning.

I'm seriously considering Cricket Wireless. I did a title search for Cricket and most threads are rather dated.

I am currently on ATT with an iPhone 6 Plus, Family Share plan, 4GB.

I do use the hotspot feature at times, with my laptop, and would like to keep that option.

Both my IMEI and phone number show on the CW as capable of being ported over. But my contract goes until Nov 2016.


I'm looking at the $60/mo plan. What are the various considerations involved here? Will I still be able to hotspot?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

dark_knight177 said:
You can't hotspot on iPhone on cricket. I moved to cricket from AT&T last year and couldn't have been happier.

I pay $90 including tax for 2 lines which include 5Gb each. The equivalent plan on AT&T would cost me $150 with tax.

I bought two iPhone 6S Pluses outright but i am saving $60 each month on service.
Click to expand...

Menel said:
Switched way back when the service was called Aio. It's been real good, no complaints. Has saved me bundles.

But PersonalHotspot is blocked for iPhone. Try TMobile.
Click to expand...

Just a heads up, Cricket has added (some) iPhones to their list of compatible phones for mobile hotspot (add'l $10/mo)

You can view the updated list here.
 
Rayfire said:
Just a heads up, Cricket has added (some) iPhones to their list of compatible phones for mobile hotspot (add'l $10/mo)

You can view the updated list here.
Click to expand...
Thanks. But I wont pay their extortion, on principle alone. Apple designed and implemented mobile hotspot on iPhone. Aio/Cricket intentionally pushed down a deactivation profile, and then charge to reactivate it? Ha!
 
I've had no issues with my 6 since switching over from Sprint. Saves me an arm and a leg every month, and I actually own my phone now. The only issue I had was Sprint kept procrastinating unlocking my phone after I had already ported my number over to Cricket. Thankfully, I was given a loaner phone to use until Sprint finally processed the unlock 2 weeks later. (Almost was going to have my bank dispute my charges for paying off the phone & plan.)
 
I tried cricket but I couldn't for someone reason get LTE in my building even though I can with AT&T.
 
Menel said:
Thanks. But I wont pay their extortion, on principle alone. Apple designed and implemented mobile hotspot on iPhone. Aio/Cricket intentionally pushed down a deactivation profile, and then charge to reactivate it? Ha!
Click to expand...
Apple didn't invent mobile hotspot / tethering. Many carriers charge you for the ability to tether, or don't allow it at all.
 
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