Twin Cities, MN residents - Best MVNO for our area?

[fidgiegirl]

Interested in switching our phone plan, have read the superguide - if you live in the Twin Cities and use an MVNO, who do you use and are you happy with them?  Especially interested in outstate performance.  Thanks!

[Zora]

I have Virgin Mobile i.e. Sprint.  I will not claim that I did a lot of research on it... I actually had it since before moving to MN.  It gets no service whatsoever at my in-laws' cabin in northern Wisconsin, which I consider a plus.

[Carl]

Hey!

I lived in Minneapolis for a year.
I use AirVoice Wireless, $30 unlimited talk and text.
I love it.

The best part is, if you hate it, you can switch, and all you are out is a $5 sim card.

Good luck!
Carl

[Monkey stache]

I live in Minneapolis proper and have Ting. They run off sprint but they also roam off Verizon which other Sprint MVNOs don't (as far I know). That's why Virgin mobile doesn't get signal up at the cabin but you would with Ting (assuming there's Verizon coverage there).

Ting costs me $40-50 a month for 2 lines depending on usage. We keep our phones on wifi whenever possible which keeps our data usage down. Coverage is good and customer service is top notch. I really like that you can choose from a large variety of Sprint devices to bring over. Also, there's no contract or activation fees.

PS: There's a twin cities meetup thread: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/twin-cities/

[fidgiegirl]

Hey, thanks everybody!

I was looking at both Republic and Ting after the last MMM post comparing the two, but I don't know anyone with either one, so this has been helpful.

I like the concept of Republic's phone, but also don't want to be stuck with it if we want to go somewhere else in the future, hence Ting is nosing ahead at this time . . .  in either scenario we'd need to obtain different phones.

Airvoice didn't seem to include long distance in their calling plans, which is important to me as people are bringing their cell phones (and numbers) all over the country with them as they journey through life, so you could be calling someone in the next room and have it technically be long distance.  Am I understanding this right?

P.S. Thanks for the Meetup link!

[Daley]

Airvoice didn't seem to include long distance in their calling plans, which is important to me as people are bringing their cell phones (and numbers) all over the country with them as they journey through life, so you could be calling someone in the next room and have it technically be long distance.  Am I understanding this right?

Yes and no. Local and long distance are billed equally as airtime used. Calling Los Angeles and calling Saint Paul costs the same on their $10 plan as receiving a call: 4¢ a minute. Their "unlimited" plans are likewise in that it's just a call. No roaming, no long distance. If you're near an AT&T tower and you dial a valid US phone number, you're going to be charged the exact same rate as any other call made elsewhere to and from in the United States.

[fidgiegirl]

I live in Minneapolis proper and have Ting. They run off sprint but they also roam off Verizon which other Sprint MVNOs don't (as far I know). That's why Virgin mobile doesn't get signal up at the cabin but you would with Ting (assuming there's Verizon coverage there).

Ting costs me $40-50 a month for 2 lines depending on usage. We keep our phones on wifi whenever possible which keeps our data usage down. Coverage is good and customer service is top notch. I really like that you can choose from a large variety of Sprint devices to bring over. Also, there's no contract or activation fees.

PS: There's a twin cities meetup thread: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/twin-cities/

I am getting closer to a decision and I think Ting may be it.

monkey stache, if you see this again, how is your coverage in the metro?  I mean, do you travel a lot in the metro area and do you get good coverage?  Or do you mainly stick to Minneapolis? 

It is reassuring to know there is voice roaming on Verizon.  We have good Verizon coverage everywhere we go (metro area, also exurbs north of metro, yearly excursions to Ely and Door County, WI), and at least we would still be able to do voice calls in all of those areas.

Now for the next new research project - how to buy a used phone?  I have never done this, am trying to get my sister who recently switched to Verizon to part with their used Sprint phones but she is not biting.  :)  Unsure if that's a no or just a non-answer.  :)

[Daley]

Now for the next new research project - how to buy a used phone?

Start here.

[fidgiegirl]

Supa helpful, IP Daley!!  Thanks as always.

My sister has agreed to see about selling hers and her husband's, now with your article and the Ting whitelist, I should have enough info to know if they are worth buying.  They always had the latest phones and only switched to another carrier within the last six months, so their Sprint phones must still be pretty nice.

Will let you all know what I decide.

I may also recommend Ting for my inlaws.  We shall see.  They only need voice, and they need new phones.  MiL has very light minute needs but FiL is a chatterbox.  I think they would still come out far ahead on Ting.  The question would be getting them flip phones cheaper than $88 a piece, but that should be simple enough to figure out with the article, too.