Dirt cheap data plans: Virgin Mobiles vs T-Mobile

[desura]

These are the two I know of.

Virgin Mobile runs off the sprint network. It's $35/mo (or $30 if you pay several months in advance I believe). Phones are unsubsidized, but 2 year cost compared to Sprint is like half. 300 minutes + "unlimited" data.

T-Mobile has their own network, though I'm not sure how good it is. $30/mo. Kind of hard to find. Big plus in my book is that they seem to have more options in way of phones, and so you can take any unlocked phone, like the recently price-dropped Nexus 4, and go on their network. 100 minutes + 5gb fast internet and then throttled internet afterwards.

How do they compare?

 

[dguy6789]

T-Mobile has worse coverage but is significantly faster. Sprint is so slow that they honestly shouldn't be a consideration by anyone for any reason.

 

[PusBucket]

You might want to look at the currently active 'Should I Switch to Sprint' thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2339583

 

[Apex]

It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison.

 

[desura]

You might want to look at the currently active 'Should I Switch to Sprint' thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2339583

Well, that was easy.

Right now I'm still using a flip phone on...sprint.

Doing the maths and stuff...I can actually upgrade to the Tmobile $30/mo plan and a smartphone, and actually pay roughly the same as I currently pay to sprint for the dumbphone (it's on a family plan and stuff)

 

[RossMAN]

It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison.

Exactly.

Sprint has some of the best all you can talk/text/data plans but the coverage is absolutely horrendous. What good is a great deal if you only have 0 or 1 bars of coverage?

Ask your friends, family and co-workers which providers offer the best coverage then start looking for a good deal.

If T-Mobile has great coverage in your area, I'm a huge fan of Platinum Tel esp if you load up on their 50% off coupons (assuming it's still working of course).

 

[RossMAN]

Well, that was easy.

Right now I'm still using a flip phone on...sprint.

Doing the maths and stuff...I can actually upgrade to the Tmobile $30/mo plan and a smartphone, and actually pay roughly the same as I currently pay to sprint for the dumbphone (it's on a family plan and stuff)

If you're talking about in the infamous $30/mo plan offered by T-Mobile through Walmart, it's a great deal.

If you're going to stay with Sprint, I would encourage you to re-think that decision and read all these threads. Hell even just the thread titles should give you an idea.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2296388

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2303871

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2333015

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2339583

 

[Tom]

Counterpoint- I recently switched from Sprint, not prepaid, to T-Mobile prepaid, the same $30 100minute/5 gb data discussed.

Wher I live Sprint's coverage wasn't good, but I could roam for free so I usually could make calls. T-Mobile's coverage is just as bad but now I just don't have any signal at all sometimes.

I take road trips. On the interstates I could pretty much always use Google maps anywhere on Sprint, sometimes it was a little slow to DL maps, but it worked. With T-Mobile MOST of the time I could not get any maps to DL at all.

My point isn't that T-Mobile is bad but people shouldn't be so quick to diss Sprint. Whe it comes to coverage its not Verizon, but neither is anyone else.

 

[lothar]

Counterpoint- I recently switched from Sprint, not prepaid, to T-Mobile prepaid, the same $30 100minute/5 gb data discussed.

Wher I live Sprint's coverage wasn't good, but I could roam for free so I usually could make calls. T-Mobile's coverage is just as bad but now I just don't have any signal at all sometimes.

I take road trips. On the interstates I could pretty much always use Google maps anywhere on Sprint, sometimes it was a little slow to DL maps, but it worked. With T-Mobile MOST of the time I could not get any maps to DL at all.

My point isn't that T-Mobile is bad but people shouldn't be so quick to diss Sprint. When it comes to coverage its not Verizon, but neither is anyone else.

You are comparing T-Mobile pre-paid vs. Sprint non-Prepaid which isn't much of a valid comparison.
Apples to oranges. About as useful as comparing Virgin Mobile pre-paid vs Verizon non-prepaid.

I don't recommend any of T-Mobile's prepaid plans because there is no roaming and coverage is much worse.
And FYI, Virgin Mobile has much worse coverage than Sprint and there is no roaming as well.
Virgin Mobile(which is a Sprint prepaid plan) vs T-Mobile prepaid is a more valid comparison.

 

[Apex]

And FYI, Virgin Mobile has much worse coverage than Sprint and there is no roaming as well.
Virgin Mobile(which is a Sprint prepaid plan) vs T-Mobile prepaid is a more valid comparison.

I've personally found Virgin Mobile coverage to be identical to Sprint (I was on Virgin Mobile for about 3 years) where we live. The only difference is where Sprint hands the connection over to Verizon roaming. The real differences were the individual phones (some phones have better signal reception than others) and the ability to roam.

Might not be this way everywhere, but definitely everywhere I traveled.

 

[lothar]

I've personally found Virgin Mobile coverage to be identical to Sprint (I was on Virgin Mobile for about 3 years) where we live. The only difference is where Sprint hands the connection over to Verizon roaming. The real differences were the individual phones (some phones have better signal reception than others) and the ability to roam.

Might not be this way everywhere, but definitely everywhere I traveled.

You are an anomaly...I'll let the actual maps speak for themselves.

Virgin Mobile coverage:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage
Sprint coverage:
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?ECID=vanity:coverage

 

[tfinch2]

I am on Virgin and have no complaints. Then again I live in an area with Sprint LTE and have an LTE phone.

 

[Bateluer]

Assuming that TMO has decent coverage in your area, its a no brainer to go with them. The wider choices in phones is a huge point in their favor. Virgin Mobile is limited to a subset of variations of Sprint devices.

 

[Tom]

You are an anomaly...I'll let the actual maps speak for themselves.

Virgin Mobile coverage:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage
Sprint coverage:
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?ECID=vanity:coverage

If you actually research those maps you will see that Virgin's coverage of interstate travel isn't that different from Sprints. Which makes sense because along interstates Sprint has pretty good 3g coverage.

Its not as good as Verizon's, last time I checked it was about on par with ATT. And those 3 are the only carriers that cover interstate travel to any substantial degree.

Which is important for things like searching for gas stations, pois, etc, while traveling.

 

[Pardus]

 

[Apex]

You are an anomaly...I'll let the actual maps speak for themselves.

Virgin Mobile coverage:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage
Sprint coverage:
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?ECID=vanity:coverage

I see no difference, except with respect to roaming (which I mentioned):

Sprint without roaming:
http://support.sprint.com/support/a...include_roaming/case-gz982789-20110302-115929

 

[soccerballtux]

chose VM over tmobile due to cheaper with a usable number of minutes.

their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc.
Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds.

I think their throttling algorithm kicks in sometimes too when it shouldn't (I never use >1GB data and according to them it shouldn't kick in before 2.5GB) because a lot of the time when I'm on 1xRTT I'll enable WiMax and it'll be no faster. Other times WiMax is super fast and it's fantastic.

Usually I'm very happy with VM. Seem better than metroPCS

 

[OS]

I've used tmos $30 UL plan for over two years now and I still love it. I used to have VZW back in the 3G UL days and I've prob saved $1K since switching.
I've moved back and forth between CA and WA and coverage is good for me in these metro areas.

 

[Roland00Address]

Virgin Mobile unlimited data throttles after a certain amount (2 or 2.5 Gbs if I recall)
Virgin Mobile uses the sprint network. It is different than the contract sprint for contract sprint can roam on verizon network so make sure you have coverage.
You can't choose your device with Virgin you have to select from their limited choices.

T-Mobile's "Walmart" plan gets you 5GBs of high speed data. T-Mobile contract phones getter better coverage than the Wal-Mart prepaid plans since you do not roam on the prepaid plan.
You can choose any compatible sim device with T-Mobile

It all comes down to how your coverage is where you plan to use your phone. Nothing else really matters in comparison.

This, this, a hundred times this.

If equal coverage get T-Mobile for you can get something like a nexus or a good used phone for cheap, but you can have the cheapest phone or the most expensive phone and you get crappy coverage and suddenly it doesn't matter.

 

[Dulanic]

their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc.
Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds.

I think most people think it's slow because 100KB IS slow. That's barely fast decent enough to stream music. I know because I had sprint and my music would always skip. I switched to TMo and average 3mbps, which is what I averaged on sprint LTE. On tmobile LTE I see 10-15. Sprints 3g is horrible and their 4G is still only as fast as others 3g.

 

[PlanetJosh]

Sprint is so slow that they honestly shouldn't be a consideration by anyone for any reason.

And now I'm stuck with 1 year and 10 months left to go with them. But I thought what the heck Sprint is cheaper than Verizon or ATT for unlimited data. Not saying it's worth it. Did XtremeLabs speed testing with their mobile app. Don't really want to post the results. Using the Samsung GS4 btw.

 

[lothar]

chose VM over tmobile due to cheaper with a usable number of minutes.

their data speeds are fine when on 3g. I routinely get 100KBytes/s, very low latency etc.
Unfortunately a lot of the time I seem to be on 1xRTT which is way slower. This is my main beef with them, and is probably why most people think they have terrible speeds.

I think their throttling algorithm kicks in sometimes too when it shouldn't (I never use >1GB data and according to them it shouldn't kick in before 2.5GB) because a lot of the time when I'm on 1xRTT I'll enable WiMax and it'll be no faster. Other times WiMax is super fast and it's fantastic.

Usually I'm very happy with VM. Seem better than metroPCS

You consider 100KB/s on 3G to be fast? D:
That's just terrible. On Straight Talk, I got 5 times that amount.

Umm...If you "routinely"(translation: once in a while) get 100KB/s, but "a lot of time"(translation: mostly) I get 1xRTT why wouldn't anyone have a right to think Sprint has terrible speeds?

And now I'm stuck with 1 year and 10 months left to go with them. But I thought what the heck Sprint is cheaper than Verizon or ATT for unlimited data. Not saying it's worth it. Did XtremeLabs speed testing with their mobile app. Don't really want to post the results. Using the Samsung GS4 btw.

The results are that bad that you're ashamed to post them? Good Lord...

For me, Sprint was just as expensive as AT&T and Verizon(or maybe only $10/month less which is essentially peanuts) when I checked them.
Hopefully this SoftBank acquisition will make Sprint competitive(both in terms of prices with T-Mobile and coverage with Verizon/AT&T), because as it is now they're not.

 

[desura]

Blah, I just realized that Tmobile has *no* coverage in my area. The coverage maps for Tmobile are really misleading, because they also count their roaming agreement with ATT...which isn't available on the $30 plan.

So then the next closest thing available for me is the Virgin Mobile, either an iphone 4s for $350 about, or a Galaxy SIII for about $330. It's $30/mo with automatic billing. Which...kinda sucks. I was excited for getting the cheap Nokia 521.

Thanks to the HSN for putting the brakes before I purchased.

I thought that as time went on, the coverage would improve, but it appears to not be the case.

Anyone tried Republic Wireless? I'd try it if the phone weren't so lousy.

 

[Tom]

I heard that StraightTalk has ATT sims again so that might be an option.

 

[desura]

Right now I'm thinking that I might be able to justify a Nokia 820 purchase for use offline.

micro-sd card means I can put lots of music on it. But the true killer app appears to be Nokia drive, which is offline navigation (GPS?). The main reason for me to have a smartphone is for navigation functions, honestly.