Originally published at: https://troypoint.com/why-im-using-mint-mobile-cell-phone-service/
Full Disclosure: The Mint Mobile affiliate links contained in this article may result in a commission awarded to TROYPOINT at not extra cost to you. I’ve been operating the TROYPOINT Website since 2009 and during that time I’ve never promoted a mobile service because in my opinion, they were all bad. Please note the word…
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I’m a happy Mint mobile customer. 
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I see they use T-Mobile service. Is that the same as AT&T? The reason I ask is that, even with 4G and 5G, the frequency bands are slightly different. So a Verizon phone on an AT&T network will work but not on all of the available frequencies (and vice versa). I have Verizon iPhones so I’d loose a couple of frequency bands if I switched to AT&T service.
Yeah, I happily switched from T-Mobile to Mint over a year ago for the price savings with no loss of call service or quality.
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I have tried Mint Mobile, but i did not like their service. My calls kept getting dropped, i had poor cell service with them. Also they were really slow compared to verizon which i had before i tried mint mobile. I loved rhe speed on verizon, but like you said Troy, i didnt like the prices. So i found a sevice that is owned by verizon called Visible. They have almost the same speeds as verizon. They do use the verizon towers since they are owned by verizon. I get great 5g service. Another thing i love is the unlimited hotspot that is included. I only pay $25/month. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than the same plan i had with verizon.
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I use Tello. You can pretty much customize the amount of data you need each month. I get all the calls an text I want, international calling and 1GB since that’s all I need being an Xfinity customer with all the coverage they have here for $10/mo. My Xfinity bill is $50/mo. for 1200mB speed.
I recently got the T-Mobile home internet service and for the most part I am very happy with it. It is almost $40 cheaper than I was paying for xfinity internet only and much faster. But for some reason, at random times, the service drops off or slows drastically. Most of the time the speeds are between 300-400mbps but have gone as high as mid 400’s. However, at least several times a day it drops to lower then 20mbps, the lowest being .39mbps and several times the service has been nonexistent for 1 to 15 minutes at a time. I have a tower .8 miles from my home, so there really is no excuse for the drastic inconsistencies. I did contact the company and they had me go to a store and change our the gateway which did improve the situation but the above info is with the new gateway. I have been using Cricket for about a year and had considered Mint but after this experience with T-Mobile, I can’t switch to Mint.
I have been with Mint for over a year and have not had an issue. Great service and a great price. Fully recommend.
I looked into the discount carriers a decade ago and went with PagePlus Cellular on the advice of the father in law. He lived in the Mountains of Colorado where Verizon is the only service that works well, thus Page Plus uses Verizon towers. We are flatlanders, living fairly close to Troy, but I’ve had excellent coverage with Page Plus/Verizon.
Once you get past the intro prices, it seems all these discounted carriers such as Page Plus and Consumer Cellular have similar prices. We pay $27 month to month for 20 gb data for example. It really depends on coverage (where you live) and download speeds since the prices are similar for discount carriers. Mint sounds like a good one.
I wish I could use them. Tmobile network is very bad where I live. The only thing that works here is Verizon, so I am now using Tracfone, which is owned by Verizon . It works well for me and a lot cheaper than Verizon. I hope Tmobile puts more towers up in my area then I will switch.
I would LOVE to use Mint Mobile, but living in Canada, we have limited choice of service (Rogers, Bell, Telus, Koodo, etc) and if you didn’t already know, Canada has the HIGHEST cell phone rates in the world. Ironic part of this is the owner of Mint Mobile, Ryan Reynolds, is Canadian, yet we can’t get Mint Mobile here in Canada. Why? Because the Canadian government won’t allow Mint to operate here. Nice, eh? We’re currently lobbying our parliamentary members to see if that will change. Any shoutout from Troypoint to help this happen would be appreciated. Cheers Homer
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I’m confused and maybe I didn’t look closely enough but I have two 5G phones from TMobile with unlimited data, voice, and text for $35 each per month or $70 total with no monthly contract. I didn’t see anything from Mint with cheaper monthly rates except teaser rates that expire in 3 months.
So if Mint is piggybacking on TMobile’s network and has to sit at the back of the bus when it comes to bandwidth why would I consider switching especially when I didn’t see any monthly rates cheaper than Tmobile?
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Hello, Mint’s biggest selling point is that many people don’t need unlimited and that’s why in the article I suggest monitoring your usage with their tool that comes with your account. Their main sell is that lots of people can get by on the 5GB plan that costs only 15 bucks. Obviously that’s not the case for people who stream, etc. but many only use their phones for calls, text, and browsing.
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The only non-starter for me is, that I have 3 phones and two wearbles on my current plan. As of now, Mint doesn’t offer connections for wearbles. Sure, I could use my watch on Wi-Fi or tether, but sometimes I forget to take my phone, or just don’t want to, and I can still call and text with my Samsung watch. What’s odd to me, is that watches use e-sims, and they have the e-sim option for phones, so how difficult could it really be? I’d consider switching, but I’m not going to move 3 phones and then have 2 watches with another provider.
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Are you sure that hotspot has unlimited data? You’re the second person I’ve heard of referring to this lately but haven’t seen where it is offered within any type of affordable plan.
This is what I see with the normal plans.
Visible includes mobile hotspot with unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps, limited to one device. After 50GB, when the network is experiencing heavy traffic, your data may be temporarily slowed. (I’ve heard way down to speeds like 128k, don’t know if this is true)
We winter in Florida, live in Canada, and we use Mint mobile as our USA cell phone.
Normally Mint has Black Friday deals on their service. You pay $45 for 3 months and they give you an extra 3 months free… That’s 6 months for $45…
You can also pick up your Mint prepaid cards and sim cards at any Best Buy in USA.
We have had no issues using it from the Maine border to Florida
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I would love to switch but I would lose cellular for our two Apple watches.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Mike
Tracfon here. $7 per month. Or get new phone with a year service for about$120
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The 50gb data limit is only for the $45 plan. The $25 plan does not offer premium data. If you only have regular 5G or 4G lte then you use that 50gb of premium data. But if your phone cennects to verizon 5G ultra wide network (5GUW) it is unlimited premium data as long as you are connected to the ultra wide network. I only once used all of the 50gb on the regular 5G and my data didnt really slow down much. On the hot spot, my hot spot speed has been between 35-45mbps down when i am connected to the 5G network. And yes the hotspot is truly unlimted. Last month i used 100gb of hot spot with no problems. The $25 just has truly unlimited regular data. Which still has great speeds. The hot spot is the same no matter what plan you have. Let me know if you have any more questions about visible. I will try to answer them. I have been with visible four 3 years now. Also if you want to try visible i can get you $20 off your first month bill via the code: 3PRBTFR. That code does not expire. And you can share it with anyone if you want to.
Biggest drawback for me is Mint does not support wearables! Meaning if you have an Apple Watch you can’t activate the cellular function and must have your phone with you to tether to your watch. All these 2nd tier services have compromises. Yes they are cheaper, but the question is what are you willing to sacrifice. I to have had several different mobile plans from the big three to 2nd tier. There is no one plan that fits all. I now have T-Mobile and have an unlimited plan locked in with a guarantee of no price increase or fees for $50 + $10 for my Apple Watch activation. I also can get a new phone every couple years hugely discounted if I need one. Though I hold on to my phones much longer than I use to.