Hi, I recently moved into the (Maryland) US for my graduate program. I got LycaMobile as my phone service after a person I knew suggested me to get it.
Turns out it was a wrong decision and they don’t have the e-sim either. I am planning to get the new iPhone and would like to switch to a new service as well.
Unfortunately, I don’t know which service and plan would be the best value for money to a student. I would love your suggestions in this regard. Thank you!
15 comments
I find Verizon has the most and fastest coverage of the major carriers.
I would ask people who live in the city/town that you’re moving to. There’s no universal “best” cell phone carrier in the US, it can vary from region to region.
Are you looking for prepaid or postpaid plans, unlocked or carrier locked?
You can afford an iphone and are worried about cost?
I get the best cheap android phone I can find and trac phone.
You should see what’s available in your region.
Generally the “big” carriers like Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are the guys who actually own the infrastructure. The other carriers and particularly the budget carriers piggyback off of the Big Company’s infrastructure, and that usually means you’re first in line to get your data throttled if there is a lot of demand.
I have T-Mobile and its okay. No complaints.
I’ve used Mint Mobile since they started. Same with my wife and kids. More than happy with the service especially with the price point.
Ask /r/Maryland or the city-sub of whatever city you will be going to uni closest too.
There’s no universal answer, I’m on t-mobile which is great most of the time but I’m sure there are cities where it is the worst option.
Best value for a student is probably a prepaid plan, try /r/NoContract for tons of information. Mint, USMobile, VerizonTotal, Visible, and GoogleFi are popular options,.
I’m in Maryland and use Verizon, it works pretty well. When I first moved here I was on T-mobile and switched away from it as soon as I could, coverage for them around here was pretty bad for me so I definitely recommend stating away from T-mobile
I just checked out my options and found that Verizon and T-Mobile were the two best options for a full bandwidth unlimited plan. T-Mobile is $20 cheaper and did not charge an activation fee.
Welcome to Maryland.
Welcome to Maryland!
So I recommend Verizon or a third party plan that uses Verizon (MVNO). T-Mobile’s coverage can get extremely spotty here. I had AT&T for years, but my Verizon coverage is tons better.
I have the Verizon prepaid plan. There’s several plans, the one I have is unlimited. With Verizon’s prepaid plan, the longer you’re on it, the less you pay for it; they give you loyalty discounts. So I pay $50 per month now for my plan, but I paid more when I started out with it (it’s actually less now than I was paying with AT&T…go figure).
Visible is a great MVNO that uses Verizon’s network. I believe they have a virtual sim. I think they also offer a trial so if you like them, you can keep them.
My in-laws are visiting for a few months so we got them a Mint Mobile plan that’s $15/month for “unlimited” calling, texting, data, with data being slowed after, I think, 40gb. So far it’s working well will good connectivity and bandwidth. It’s owned by T Mobile now.
T mobile
AT&T or Verizon are the big players. It’s pretty equal.