Republic Wireless has changed, what's the next best?

[hooplady]

Hello all,
Republic Wireless was great for me while it lasted, but they were apparently acquired by Dish Network recently and things have changed. I muddled along for a while, but now their voicemail engine has changed and it's just not acceptable (not getting vm's timely, can't get full info for a message).

What's the next best cheap option? I'm in the Southeast US and rarely travel farther than Kentucky/Maryland. Considering Consumer Cellular.

[Morning Glory]

We are happy with mint mobile.  It's $15/month for 4g of fast data plus unlimited talk, text, and slow data.

[Adventine]

We are happy with mint mobile.  It's $15/month for 4g of fast data plus unlimited talk, text, and slow data.

We have the exact same plan and are very satisfied. It becomes an even better deal when you stack the referral bonuses from family and friends.

[sonofsven]

Hello all,
Republic Wireless was great for me while it lasted, but they were apparently acquired by Dish Network recently and things have changed. I muddled along for a while, but now their voicemail engine has changed and it's just not acceptable (not getting vm's timely, can't get full info for a message).

What's the next best cheap option? I'm in the Southeast US and rarely travel farther than Kentucky/Maryland. Considering Consumer Cellular.

I'm also a longtime RW user and a few months ago I was looking to change as well, but recently RW has been working better than it has in quite a while for me at least.
The one I was interested in is T mobile Magenta, but it's a 55 and over plan (I just turned 55).

[FIRE 20/20]

We are happy with mint mobile.  It's $15/month for 4g of fast data plus unlimited talk, text, and slow data.

We have the exact same plan and are very satisfied. It becomes an even better deal when you stack the referral bonuses from family and friends.

I also moved from Republic to Mint about 2 years ago.  Also on the $15/mo. plan.  If you were happy with Republic, you'll probably be just as happy with Mint.  If you choose to move to Mint, see if a friend or family member has it both to check the coverage in your area and to get a referral from them.  I'd give you one, but I'd rather you get someone you know the extra $15 (or whatever it is) referral bonus. 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Mint has been great for the past 2 years.  I'm the only one in my house still using Republic, because I'm too cheap to get a new phone and switch to Mint.  But I agree, Republic has become a dogshit company.  My texts were all f'd up this week.

[ysette9]

Yet another fan of Mint here. They seem to be the best you can hope for in the US.

[LD_TAndK]

Checkout USMobile too, they've been great for me. Unlimited talk/text & 1GB for $12, even cheaper plans if you have multiple lines.

[2Birds1Stone]

Been with Mint for almost two years now, couldn't be happier.

[geekette]

Red Pocket is good if you want a network other than T-Mo.  I have a $100/year plan that works well for me (1000/unl/1G per month).  Online chat is very responsive.

[jfer_rose]

I switched from Republic before they switched. I’m using Tello and very happy. My 1 gig plan costs me $10 every 30 days.

[MrsSpendyPants]

If you need Verizon towers then Visible is great.  Currently paying 25/line.

[SweetTPi]

I have Tracfone, and it has been working out to be roughly $5 per month.  I am a light cell phone user- I don't often call/text and I never stream anything.  At most I'll look up something using my data when I'm out and without wi-fi, but I turn data off when not actively using it.  Nowadays I rarely use my phone because I don't have reception in the house (nobody does) and do most everything through wi-fi, but even when I had only my cell (and no landline) I was fine with Tracfone. 

I bought a refurbished phone that came with minutes/texts/gigs and even 3? years later I am still working through those so I haven't needed to buy more.  It does take a yearly activation/registration fee, but if you know how to work around the system, the fee totals about $60 for the year.  (Basically to get the reduced annual activation fee, you have to buy something small like more texts or data for $10, and you get a special option to add a $50 annual fee to the cart.  Regular price is something like $120.)

Dunno how anyone else would like it, since one has to get off the dang phone and not be so attached at all times, but it works for me.

[hooplady]

Update: although I asked for advice, I procrastinated until it became critical. A few weeks ago my calls started going straight to voicemail without even ringing. That was bad enough, but starting today I suddenly can't even connect to the new voicemail to retrieve messages. It starts dialing and then disconnects.

So I just signed up for Mint.

[ditheca]

For mobile on a budget, Red Pocket works well for my kids. $7.80ish / month when you buy an annual plan on ebay.

Unlimited talk/text, 1 Gb data

[charis]

Good luck with Mint - I am mightily struggling with the company after almost 3 years of good service.  I requested a replacement sim card for my kid's phone over 3 weeks ago and spoke with four different reps who can't explain why the card hasn't arrived, whether it has ever even been sent out, why I've never received an email about despite requesting an email several times to confirm the order.  I feel like I'm in some kind of alternate universe whenever I call.  Yesterday, the rep, "checked everything" for like 40 minutes but couldn't or wouldn't answer one direct question related to the sim card.  I am considering dropping Mint based on this experience.

[economista]

I just had a similar issue with Mint. My phone was stolen and I had to request a new SIM card for the new phone. They sent it but never sent me the tracking info. I contacted them a week later when it still hadn't arrived and they checked the tracking on their end and told me that it had been marked as "undeliverable" to my address and was instead dropped off at Walgreens a few blocks away. I went to Walgreens to pick it up and they said there are a few notoriously bad FedEx/UPS delivery drivers who will drop off basically their whole load at the store and mark all of the addresses undeliverable because then they get done with their routes faster.

In the end I was angry with Mint for not providing me with the email. They said the emails always go out automatically and I must have deleted it or something without realizing it. That definitely is not the case. I never got the email. I think there is a problem with their automated email system.

[SweatingInAR]

I switched to T-mobile prepaid for data only last month. $5 for 500MB or $10 for 2GB. I exclusively use Google Voice for talk and text, which has been great for portability. I can switch carrier any time I want by sliding in a different SIM card. https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

For mobile on a budget, Red Pocket works well for my kids. $7.80ish / month when you buy an annual plan on ebay.

Unlimited talk/text, 1 Gb data

That is a great deal!

[charis]

I just had a similar issue with Mint. My phone was stolen and I had to request a new SIM card for the new phone. They sent it but never sent me the tracking info. I contacted them a week later when it still hadn't arrived and they checked the tracking on their end and told me that it had been marked as "undeliverable" to my address and was instead dropped off at Walgreens a few blocks away. I went to Walgreens to pick it up and they said there are a few notoriously bad FedEx/UPS delivery drivers who will drop off basically their whole load at the store and mark all of the addresses undeliverable because then they get done with their routes faster.

In the end I was angry with Mint for not providing me with the email. They said the emails always go out automatically and I must have deleted it or something without realizing it. That definitely is not the case. I never got the email. I think there is a problem with their automated email system.

This is exactly what happened to me - stolen phone situation - and I stuck on a loop of the first half because I haven't been told whether they sent it anywhere. I would go to Walgreens at this point.  It's very unprofessional.

[sonofsven]

Update: although I asked for advice, I procrastinated until it became critical. A few weeks ago my calls started going straight to voicemail without even ringing. That was bad enough, but starting today I suddenly can't even connect to the new voicemail to retrieve messages. It starts dialing and then disconnects.

So I just signed up for Mint.

I procrastinated too, but my Republic started working ok again after some struggles with voicemail. It seems to be working now, so I'm reluctant to change.

[hooplady]

So far the transfer isn't working. Mint asks for the account number and PIN, but apparently the PIN isn't the regular one on my Republic account, it's a special "port-out PIN". In order to get one I had to call Republic; rep stated she had to call me back to verify. I politely told her to go ahead and try, but that's the whole reason I'm switching - calls are going straight to voicemail. After a few more verifications using other means I did manage to get the special PIN but so far it's not working to change over to Mint. Fingers crossed it will work eventually. Just sharing this for others who may end up switching.

[dhc]

I’ve tried both mint and US mobile after republic (and a brief stint with Google fi), and I’m happiest with US mobile so far. Mostly that’s because Verizon coverage is better in my area than T-mobile, but it’s also the first carrier I’ve had where they lowered the price after I started rather than raising it or keeping it steady.

[crocheted_stache]

So glad to find this thread. I'm a Republic customer with the latest pre-paid year expiring this month, and I came here to ask basically this exact question. I don't think I encountered the hiccups others are describing, although that could be because I don't use my phone that much as a phone.

The difference between $15 versus $20 per month is not of concern to me, if it results in the service I want. I did like about Republic, pre-Dish, that if I ran into trouble and made contact, I got through to a human who actually helped. I haven't had occasion to try it since Dish took over, but somehow it no longer feels like the friendly little guy it once was.

It's discouraging that Mint users report running up against ineffective customer service. Perhaps I'll review the US Mobile offerings in more detail. DH is with US Mobile already, although I don't suppose that matters.

I don't generally use a ton of data. I spend most of my time in range of Wi-Fi. In the past year or so, Republic pulled the plug on Wi-Fi calling. I was making pretty good use of it while I was traveling overseas for a few months over the last couple years. I didn't succeed in getting phone service working there, but as long as I was on Wi-Fi, I could call California the same as if I were in California. I wonder if that's something that's built into my phone and phones in general at this point. I guess I could put it in airplane mode and try it here at home. If anyone knows better, I'm interested.

Does anyone know if https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/coveragecritic/ is still being maintained or expanded?

Has anybody tried Boost or any of the herd of others?

[HipGnosis]

For mobile on a budget, Red Pocket works well for my kids. $7.80ish / month when you buy an annual plan on ebay.

Unlimited talk/text, 1 Gb data

I've been using Red Pocket for years.  The annual plans are on their website now; https://www.redpocket.com/plans/annual   Note that come plans only work on certain networks.
It is unlimited data, but only so much is 'fast' .
I don't see the 1 Gb annual plan on their website (I wish I did as my plan is expiring soon).

[geekette]

For mobile on a budget, Red Pocket works well for my kids. $7.80ish / month when you buy an annual plan on ebay.

Unlimited talk/text, 1 Gb data

I've been using Red Pocket for years.  The annual plans are on their website now; https://www.redpocket.com/plans/annual   Note that come plans only work on certain networks.
It is unlimited data, but only so much is 'fast' .
I don't see the 1 Gb annual plan on their website (I wish I did as my plan is expiring soon).

Their 1 Gb plan is only on eBay.  It is, however, 1Gb, full stop.  If you run over, you have to pay a few bucks for more data or suck it up until your monthly refill.