US Mobile

A couple months ago, my AT&T Wireless bill breached $90 per month for a single device, so it was time to do something about it. I looked around and US Mobile looked interesting: I could prepay $199 for a year of adequate service, and I could choose which of the 3 major networks. The ability to switch networks on the same plan was even more intriguing.

I already knew AT&T was mostly fine, but a bit weak in my house, so I gave T-Mobile’s network a try via my US Mobile account to start out. I found the T-Mobile network was really fast, but maybe the slighly weak signal was killing my phone’s battery faster than I had expected. The phone was always a little warm. It was time to "teleport" my line to the next network in my test. Verizon seemed a bit stronger, and it’s mostly fine for battery life. I could again see battery estimates over 24 hours, instead of 12 hours. (I realize now when you read about people seeing terrible battery life on the "new Pixel" or whatever, it may be fine for you, since it may be the network conditions causing battery drain.)

US Mobile calls each network a different name: Warp (Verizon), Lightspeed (T-Mobile), and Dark Star (AT&T). I had eliminated any monthly payments for an entire year for just $199. Many phones allow you to have 2 active eSIMs, and US Mobile had an introductory deal to have a second (and 3rd) eSIM on the other networks simultaneously for $45 per line. I splurged and activated 2 more eSIMs for the other networks, so I could use all 3 networks in my travels for an entire year. I can have 2 active at a time, so I have Warp and Lightspeed always on. If I see my primary network looks a little weak, I switch my data service over to the other SIM. If neither of the 2 look great, I activate the 3rd SIM to replace the backup SIM and run Warp and Dark Star at the same time. Theoretically, the phone will automatically switch to the second SIM, but service needs to be completely gone on the first, and that doesn’t often happen.

I like to run speed tests across all the networks when I have a chance. I most recently ran the test at the top of a mountain in the Michaux Forest. Dark Star was the winner there giving me 1200Mbps downloads! I was excited to test all 3 networks to find any glimmer of service at my favorite campground on another weekend.

At this point, I’ve spent $290 for a year of service on all 3 networks to use as I see fit. I think the second year will be $270 + $90 + $90, so maybe I’ll know enough to choose 1 or 2 network, but even if I keep all 3, I’ll still be saving over half over my old post-paid AT&T account.