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[[cell_phone_services|Cellphone page]]

====USMobile Cellphone Plans====

USMobile has so many options and is so confusing that I have put together this page that summarizes the options, on 14Feb2025 with summary added 20mar2025.  

I'm concerned with the lower-use plans, so you should consult [[https://usmobile.com/plans]] for official info and other plans.

^ Feature                                                                                                   ^ DarkStar (AT&T)\\ Blue SIM         ^ Warp (Verizon)\\ black SIM          ^ LightSpeed (T-Mobile)\\ White SIM     ^
| Plan name: Unlimited Flex                                                                                                                                                               ||||
| Cost/mo for a year, includes taxes & fees (no contract not intro rate) $17.50 ($210/12 months)                                                                                          ||||
| Nationwide 5G?                                                                                            | Yes                      | mmWave & C-band          | Yes                      |
| High Speed (Premium) Data                                                                                 | 10GB                     | 10GB                     | 10GB                     |
| Hotspot Data                                                                                              | 5GB                      | 5GB                      | 5GB                      |
| Data Priority Level Included                                                                              | QCI 9                    | QCI 8 on 5G devices      | QCI 7                    |
| Unlimited Talk & Text                                                                                     | Yes                      | Yes                      | Yes                      |
| Wifi Talk & Text                                                                                          | Yes                      | Yes                      | Yes                      |
| Int'l calls from US ([[https://www.usmobile.com/international-calling|Countries]])                        | Yes                      | Yes                      | Yes                      |
| Int'l texts from US                                                                                       | Yes                      | Yes                      | Yes                      |
| Data, calls, texts outside US [[https://www.usmobile.com/international-roaming-phone-plans|(countries)]]  | for purchase             | for purchase             | for purchase             |
| Network Transfers                                                                                         | 2 free then $2/transfer  | 2 free then $2/transfer  | 2 free then $2/transfer  |
| Apple Watch Plan                                                                                          | Not yet                  | for purchase             | not yet supported        |
| Typical download speed (higher=better) mbps                                                               | 30.5 - 389               | 70 - 357                 | 30 - 702                 |
| Typical Upload Speed (higher=better) mbps                                                                 | 4.5 - 33                 | 7 - 32                   | 30 - 702                 |
| Typical Latency (lower=better) ms                                                                         | 11 - 35                  | 17 - 32                  | 45 - 62                  |
|**Summary** |AT&T|Verizon|T-Mobile|
|Coverage|Best in rural, strong in cities|Best nationwide, strong in suburbs/rural|Best in cities & suburban|
|Data Speeds|Fast 5G but may throttle in congestion|Generally the fastest 5G|Fast 5G but congested in some areas|
|Network priority|Lower than direct AT&T customers|High priority esp w/premium plans|Lower priority than direct T-Mobile custs|
|Roaming|Some domestic roaming|Good roaming coverage|Less domestic roaming than others|
|Call quality|Good but issues rural|excellent|Good but weaker rural|
|Best for...|Those in rural areas|Fastest data & suburban/rural coverage|Those in urban areas wanting affordable 5G|
|Weaknesses|Can deprioritize prepaid users in congestion|Higher congestion in busy areas|Coverage gaps in rural areas|
|International use|Decent, with some roaming options|Good with strong international add-ons|Best for international travel with built-in roaming options|

===Other info on this plan===
  * Data included with monthly price: Unlimited
  * Charges for additional data usage: None
  * Phone support 878-205-0088
  * Unique plan identifier: M830431123ABC456DEF789

====What is QCI?====
QCI means Quality of Service Class Identifier.  It determines how different types of data are treated on the network expecially during times of congestion.

  * QCI 7: Highest priority. Minimal latency and high reliability.
  * QCI 8: Medium-high priority.
  * QCI 9: Standard priority. Slower speeds during peak times as compared to QCI 7 and QCI 8.


====Other Plans, Pay for What You Need, shared data====
  * Add lines at $8/line (showing in the table below)
  * Unlimited talk & Text on every line
  * Top-up data at any time for $2/GB; unused top-ups roll over
  * Int'l calling and texting
  * Includes hotspot
  * $2/network transfer
  * Shared data across all lines in your plan
  * Data service STOPS when all purchased data is used
  * Video streams in SD
  * Same parameters as above (QCI, speeds)
  * Unique plan identifier: M830431123ABC456DEF792

|< 10 10 10 50 >|
^Shared Data^1 line^2 lines^
|2GB|$10|18|
|5GB|$15|$23|
|10GB|$20|$28|
|20GB|$35|$43|
|30GB|$50|$58|