Cell phone service providers?

[MitchS]

I live in north Texas near Sheppard AFB, and have had pretty terrible coverage with T-Mobile ever since I graduated and left the family Verizon plan. I'm inclined to go back to Verizon, but I was a little put off by how pricey their mid-level data plans are. ($70/mo for 8GB plus a $20/mo "because we can" fee? Jesus.) My fiancée suggested Sprint because she heard they have a military discount, but discounts don't mean much if I'm dropping calls on a regular basis like I am now. I'd like to have coverage I can count on for my next few assignments, starting with Columbus this spring.

Who have you had good and bad experiences with over the last few years, in terms of coverage, cost, and service?

[Chida]

What phone do you have? Tmobile's 700 MHz band only works with newer phones. Apple started supporting it with the 6s. My coverage with Tmobile is much better with the 6s than it was with the 6.


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[MitchS]

I have a OnePlus 3. Came out June '16.

[Chida]

Check rootmetrics coverage app to see which provider is best for any given area.


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[viper154]

Verizon has a mil discount, works well at Cannon and worked good Columbus, not so hot in the ops buildings but no one really had coverage in them 

[JarheadBoom]

Dunno what your background is (fighter/bomber/heavy), but I have had good luck internationally with T-Mobile.  Never had a problem in Western Europe or Asia, and had pretty good coverage in the Middle East.  Verizon absolutely sucked internationally, since their network and most of their phones are CDMA-only - the vast majority of the rest of the world uses GSM, and has no CDMA support.  I dumped V after a year, and went back to T-M.  They offer Wifi calling (at least on the iPhone), which can help in areas where their cell coverage is weak.  They also have a .mil discount, and a pretty good device unlock policy for long-term international use.

I'm working in the ME as a civilian now; if my employer wasn't supplying a company-paid SIM from a local provider, I'd be fine using my personal T-M service here for phone service.

Offered as a data point; I'm not a T-Mobile shill, despite how this post ended up sounding.

[Waingro]

I use Google Fi. No contract, $20/mo flat for service, plus $0.01/MB of data ($10/GB). Pay for what you use. Works in most countries on earth without any change to billing. Placing calls while abroad costs a few pennies, depending if you're on the local network or wifi, but it's negligible, and the data rate never changes. Free SMS anywhere it connects. Land in Afghanistan (or Somalia, Iraq, Cambodia), fire up the phone, it's the same as if you're in Dallas.

In the US it toggles behind the scenes to whatever carrier has the best reception, between Sprint, T-Mo, and US Cellular. 

Cons: Gets expensive if you're a data whore. I use about 1GB/mo so it's perfect for me, with a $30 phone bill. If you want to stream whole seasons of TV shows on it though, it would get expensive. Also I think it's exclusive to the Nexus 5, 6, and Google Pixel phones right now. Finally, if you're abroad and someone wants to call you, it's still an international call to the US for them (but free for you).

[olevelo]

I switched to Verizon Prepaid a few months ago because they're the only ones with decent service on base here. $50 a month plus tax (about $5 in CA) for 5 GB of rollover data, plus NFL Redzone streaming! (Does count against the data cap though unlike with postpaid).


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[RangerMateo]

We have used Cricket for about 3 years now and no problems. Runs on ATT towers so you get whatever coverage ATT has. I've also abused the shit out of their unlimited plan to the tune of 40-50GB some months. I tether all my kids tablets and the fire TV in our camper when we are tdy or on vacation. Haven't said a word to me yet...

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[ripster]

T-Mobile is doing a thing until March 31st for $100 for two phone lines unlimited everything, 10GB wifi hotspot, and 20% off your contract for life. So $80.00 for two phone lines with all that jazz. I would switch but I did the NEXT with ATT and it would be about a grand to pay out of my ATT contract. Brutal.

[Tonka]

Now that t mobile and sprint are merged... is it worth it for the t-mobile military deal? I don’t travel nearly as much and seems overkill for Verizon any more.

[Av8]

11 hours ago, Tonka said:

Now that t mobile and sprint are merged... is it worth it for the t-mobile military deal? I don’t travel nearly as much and seems overkill for Verizon any more.

Yes, T-Mobile is IMO cheaper and more value than Verizon or ATT. I went from ATT to T-Mobile about 3 years back and it's like going from a crappy credit card to the Amex Platinum...so many benefits included (MLB TV, 1hr of airline internet, international data, and more). The cell reception is getting relatively better too, many people said Verizon was the only provider you needed to get in my area when I PCS'd, but then hurricanes hit and everyone with Verizon was SOL andT-Mobile was up soon after. YMMV on the reception though depending where you live

[slc]

What is the mil deal for one line?

[YoungnDumb]

Not related to T-Mobile but recently switched to Google Fi and probably not leaving them for a long time.  They work fantastic over seas with 0 interruption, little pricey but for 0 headache when travelling its worth it.

[guineapigfury]

I will second the recommendation for Google Fi.  It's pricey, but works everywhere I've been internationally.

[TreeA10]

15 hours ago, Tonka said:

Now that t mobile and sprint are merged... is it worth it for the t-mobile military deal? I don’t travel nearly as much and seems overkill for Verizon any more.

Switched from Sprint to T-Mobile several months ago. Same service, half the cost with their military discount. Yes, is worth it. 

[CaptainMorgan]

I will second the recommendation for Google Fi.  It's pricey, but works everywhere I've been internationally.

Third for fi. I have t-mobile and google fi. You can stop and start service with fi through their app, so I only turn it on when I need better international data than the 256kbps T-mobile provides. I’ll switch solely to Fi if they ever support the Apple Watch.


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