I'm currently on AT&T but I'm planning on moving to T-Mobile very soon. What are the pros and cons of Google Fi version T-Mobile? The only thing that stands out to me immediately is if you're an iPhone user you have to get your phone somewhere else.
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Google Fi
- Thread starter scott craft
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I had an abysmal experience with Google Fi (performance and customer service).
Highly recommend US Mobile's T-mobile (MVNO) service, or T-Mobile itself which may have pre-pay options too that are also reasonable. Not sure what iPhone's either of them offer, if you are looking for a new device.
I get 10 GB of T-Mobile 5g data and unlimited talk/text for $15/month total with US Mobile (and brought my own device). It requires a year of pre-pay service in advance which is fine by me. I tried their Verizon service offering for a few weeks. Throughput and voice quality sucked on both US coasts (unless I was in close proximity to a cell tower) compared to what I've experienced with their T-Mobile offering.
Highly recommend US Mobile's T-mobile (MVNO) service, or T-Mobile itself which may have pre-pay options too that are also reasonable. Not sure what iPhone's either of them offer, if you are looking for a new device.
I get 10 GB of T-Mobile 5g data and unlimited talk/text for $15/month total with US Mobile (and brought my own device). It requires a year of pre-pay service in advance which is fine by me. I tried their Verizon service offering for a few weeks. Throughput and voice quality sucked on both US coasts (unless I was in close proximity to a cell tower) compared to what I've experienced with their T-Mobile offering.
Didn't T-Mobile buy US Mobile? The plan pricing between T-Mobile and Google Fi is the same so I didn't know if there was an advantage for going with Google. I'll check US Mobile and see what they offer.
Nope. US Mobile is an MVNO that offers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon service. Their AT&T offering is lowest priority, followed by Verizon. T-Mobile is their "best offering" and higher priority service than the other two.
The NoContract subreddit has oodles of information about all sorts of pay-as-you-go offerings from the big carriers and MVNO providers too.
My wife uses their Verizon service.
Wherever we travel in the US I run a speed test on both of our devices (with wifi disabled).
~95% of the time I have better signal strength and throughput on my S25 Ultra (USM T-Mobile service) compared her iPhone 14 Pro (USM Verizon service). The only instances where her phone does better is in rural areas with very little cellular antenna infrastructure (essentially analog calling) and high bandwidth performance when we are in very close proximity to Verizon new infrastructure towers (in major metropolitan areas).
T-Mobile used to be horrible around here but since they merged with Sprint they seem to do well. I went from Verizon to at&t but I'm ready to make a move again.
Google-Fi used to be really good - back in the day. I have not heard a lot of good about it now. They are offering a huge discount on a Pixel 10 if you buy it and activate a new line of service on it ($800 off).
T-Mobile? Give Mint Mobile a try - https://www.mintmobile.com/ - It is deprioritized tho but for $180/year for "unlimited" it's pretty amazing. (Used them for years).
T-Mobile? Give Mint Mobile a try - https://www.mintmobile.com/ - It is deprioritized tho but for $180/year for "unlimited" it's pretty amazing. (Used them for years).
MVNOs are resellers of the big 3 networks - that's why they're so much cheaper ($180/year). The cost is, you have secondary priority behind someone who is on T-Mobile (in Mint Mobile's case). So if you go somewhere with a cell tower that is heavily used, T-Mobile customers get priority whereas MVNO's (Mint in this case) get secondary priority.
I had pretty good luck with Mint - at a few malls I'd notice data throughput wasn't happening now and then, but for the most part, didn't have a problem - was really happy with it, especially for the price.
“Deprioritized” just means your data gets lower priority on the network compared to regular T-Mobile customers. Day to day it’s usually fine, but in crowded places (stadiums, concerts, busy city centers) you might notice slower speeds while postpaid T-Mobile users get the faster lanes. For the price, though, services like Mint can still be a really good deal if you’re not often in high-congestion areas.
I think AT&T is the most popular carrier in my area so that might not be a big deal for me with T-Mobile.