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Cricket Bumps Data Allotments On Prepaid Plans
AT&T-owned Cricket Wireless today raised the data limits on the company's prepaid plans, as well as adding a new 20 GB plan for $55. According to the Cricket announcement, Cricket Basic subscribers now get 2.5GB of data for $40 per month, while subscribers to the company's Smart tier get 5 GB of data for $50 a month. Cricket's Advanced plan now offers 20 GB of data for $60 a month. All of those options see a $5 monthly reductions if users enroll in autopay. Cricket states the company is offering prepaid users the LTE Nokia Lumia 635 for free, the LTE Motorola Moto G for $25, or the LTE HTC Desire 510 for $80 after mail-in rebates.
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elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Imagine

What that plan would cost if AT&T were allowed to buy Tmobile That is really putting pressure on their MVNOs... I may have to revisit H2O plans.

In typical AT&T fashion there is always a catch:

***Advanced Plan: Limited time offer; subject to change. LTE-capable device and activation of Advanced plan required to get 20 GB of high-speed data access. ***Not eligible for Group Save discount. ****

koolman2
Premium Member
join:2002-10-01
Anchorage, AK

koolman2

Premium Member

Re: Imagine

Last time they bumped it was a limited-time offer as well. They even had a date listed for when they would go back down to 500 MB 2.5 GB and 5 GB.

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna to elefante72

Member

to elefante72
Here's the FULL disclaimer . . . . .

Advanced Plan: Limited time offer; subject to change. LTE-capable device and an activation of the Advanced plan is required to get 20 GB of data. Not eligible for Group Save discount. Customers may remain on the Advanced Plan after offer ends. Changes: After offer ends, if you change your Advanced Plan to a different plan or your Cricket account is cancelled, you will lose the promo 20 GB Advanced plan & then existing plans with data allotments & pricing will apply.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

I've been using Cricket for several months..

I've been pleased with their service. There were a few issues with slow data speeds but it was a network wide issue. It seems to be corrected at this point. Customer service leaves a lot to be desired but overall it's been decent. I can troubleshoot a majority of my issues on my own.

For those currently on AT&T that don't care about having 10+ Mbps LTE speeds I would highly recommend Cricket. The value is there and the service has been identical in coverage to my postpaid AT&T account that I had for 15+ years.
mmay149q
Premium Member
join:2009-03-05
Dallas, TX

mmay149q

Premium Member

Re: I've been using Cricket for several months..

On average how fast is your 4GLTE via cricket? Just curious

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: I've been using Cricket for several months..

My ping is usually 60-70ms and download is usually around 7-8 Mbps. It's capped at 8 Mbps.
mmay149q
Premium Member
join:2009-03-05
Dallas, TX

mmay149q

Premium Member

Re: I've been using Cricket for several months..

You know for a value service though that's not bad, there's not really many games on Android and stuff really over 50MB, and the ones that are you can just download over WiFi, interesting, I may have to check out some of Cricket's offerings

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: I've been using Cricket for several months..

said by mmay149q:

You know for a value service though that's not bad, there's not really many games on Android and stuff really over 50MB, and the ones that are you can just download over WiFi, interesting, I may have to check out some of Cricket's offerings

Let me know if you do and I can refer you
mmay149q
Premium Member
join:2009-03-05
Dallas, TX

mmay149q

Premium Member

Typo Karl

"Cricket's Advanced plan now offers $20 of data for $60 a month."

$20 of data? Lol don't you mean 20 GB? I mean, it sounds like a pretty crappy deal to only get $20 worth of data for $60 a month lol

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna

Member

Re: Typo Karl

think he's got several IM's already....
said by mmay149q:

"Cricket's Advanced plan now offers $20 of data for $60 a month."

$20 of data? Lol don't you mean 20 GB? I mean, it sounds like a pretty crappy deal to only get $20 worth of data for $60 a month lol

compuguybna

compuguybna

Member

Playing Catch Up?

Boost Mobile has had the same plans (except for the 20GB) for a while now.

2.5GB for $35
5GB for $45
10GB for $55

Only the 2.5GB plan requires autopay.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: Playing Catch Up?

Boost uses Sprint's CDMA network, which is essentially worthless in many areas. There is no comparison for coverage when comparing Boost and Cricket. I'll take Cricket any day.

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna

Member

Re: Playing Catch Up?

Boost uses Sprint's 4GLTE network too. Depends on where you are.. What ever works for ya...
said by gigahurtz:

Boost uses Sprint's CDMA network, which is essentially worthless in many areas. There is no comparison for coverage when comparing Boost and Cricket. I'll take Cricket any day.


gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: Playing Catch Up?

Sprint's network is improving but it's still not anywhere near AT&T or Verizon's nationwide network. Don't get me wrong, I love that Boost is offering these prices and all of these competing plans only benefit us in the long run.

I just wouldn't go as far as saying Boost is great for everyone as the network isn't on the same level as AT&T and Verizon.
OldCableGuy (banned)
join:2014-12-19

OldCableGuy (banned)

Member

Re: Playing Catch Up?

Did you flip those around? I've never heard anyone suggest AT&T is better than Sprint.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: Playing Catch Up?

said by OldCableGuy:

Did you flip those around? I've never heard anyone suggest AT&T is better than Sprint.

It's laughable to me that you actually believe Sprint has a better network than AT&T.
OldCableGuy (banned)
join:2014-12-19

OldCableGuy (banned) to gigahurtz

Member

to gigahurtz
Cricket uses AT&T's GSM network, which for anyone not on the coast (in the midwest) is limited to major cities and interstates. I'll take Sprint CDMA which has coverage in rural America over GSM any day of the year.

AnonDude
@charter.com

AnonDude

Anon

Re: Playing Catch Up?

said by OldCableGuy:

Cricket uses AT&T's GSM network, which for anyone not on the coast (in the midwest) is limited to major cities and interstates. I'll take Sprint CDMA which has coverage in rural America over GSM any day of the year.

That's a lie since at&t has just about finished their LTE rollout. Cricket has LTE anywhere at&t does. I live in the boonies and I can get Cricket LTE.

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna

Member

LTE Speeds

You'll never see THESE LTE speeds on Cricket. Somehow, Boost is shining here in TN!
YMMV.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

Well, connectivity, sector capacity, and backhaul I argue are way more important. The Cricket QoS is a soft cap, not a hard cap. In fact by introducing reasonable thresholds that smooths out the experience for others on that sector--assuming you don't need an app to blast more that 8Mbps.. AT&T/Go postpaid will get better burst, so what.

I'm intrigued that people post speed tests saying my connection is faster next to the tower at 2 AM -- but I am always at a loss as to on a mobile device why you need 30 Mbps. My old Verizon CDMA 3G would stream Pandora in high def. Sure youtube was a little sketchy but seriously 8Mbps cricket cap can easily handle video, although you would be burning 3.6 GB per HOUR at 8 Mbps.

In any case latency, stable stream (QoS) and CONNECTIVITY are more important in most interactive apps than top gun speed..

My god people...

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: LTE Speeds

I completely agree. I will take a 8 Mbps LTE data connection and great nationwide coverage over a fast connection in specific location any day of the week. You're lucky if you even get a data connection when you leave a major metro area, the same applies for T-Mobile.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

I recently tested my moms **old** Nexus 4 (no LTE - HSPA+) on her H20 (AT&T MVNO) versus my new LG G2 on Verizon LTE and I couldn't notice a bit of difference bringing up web pages or how fast Pandora started or skipped. Youtube was a function of the poorly bloated app to start, but again starting videos was **slightly** faster on the G2..

We are surrounded by so my hype in this industry..

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna to elefante72

Member

to elefante72
Actually 8mbps is an acceptable speed on a mobile device.

Who'd be up running speedtests at 2am?

actually, I wanted to move to Cricket. Back in Nov Dec, they had the S4 for $249 and there was the 10GB plan for $55.
But after hearing about all the network issues, throttling, and general crap for data service back during that time, I cancelled my order (took a month and a half getting a refund after a chargeback). I thought about giving them another shot, but no guarantees their network issues are fixed.

one must choose the carrier that fits them the best depending on their area.

Boost/Sprint is good here, and priced accordingly, and their rates were 3 months ago priced at what Cricket announced today.

and Boost isn't filtered thru a proxy server like Cricket is.
said by elefante72:

I'm intrigued that people post speed tests saying my connection is faster next to the tower at 2 AM -- but I am always at a loss as to on a mobile device why you need 30 Mbps. My old Verizon CDMA 3G would stream Pandora in high def. Sure youtube was a little sketchy but seriously 8Mbps cricket cap can easily handle video, although you would be burning 3.6 GB per HOUR at 8 Mbps.

In any case latency, stable stream (QoS) and CONNECTIVITY are more important in most interactive apps than top gun speed..

My god people...

elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

I totally agree. I'm not voting for Cricket, but my point was that there is such an emphasis on top speed, we sometimes forget that without stability and connectivity what good is a top gun score. In your case it looks like Boost is the better choice. For the kids I use ringplus (Sprint MVNO) because it is so cheap and they use very little data (Sprint backhaul atrocious in my neck of the woods). The great things is there is so much choice these days. There is always a tradeoff..

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

compuguybna

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

We didn't have service from SPRINT until CHARTER HSI came to town. Sprint is using Charter for their data feed...that's when LTE popped up.

Verizon and AT&T the top carriers here (but not the fastest).

I'd give CRICKET another try, but I don't wanna invest $400 in an S4, then their network still have the same data/network issues like they did in Nov/Dev.
said by elefante72:

I totally agree. I'm not voting for Cricket, but my point was that there is such an emphasis on top speed, we sometimes forget that without stability and connectivity what good is a top gun score. In your case it looks like Boost is the better choice. For the kids I use ringplus (Sprint MVNO) because it is so cheap and they use very little data (Sprint backhaul atrocious in my neck of the woods). The great things is there is so much choice these days. There is always a tradeoff..


toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby to compuguybna

Member

to compuguybna
said by compuguybna:

and Boost isn't filtered thru a proxy server like Cricket is.

Yes it is.

The whole of Sprint's network is filtered and re-compressed.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia to elefante72

Premium Member

to elefante72
Well, T-Mobile includes tethering in all simple choice plans and I can blast by 30 mbps with 80-100 MS ping. It may not be useful on a phone, but when tethering is included, it is certainly nice when your cable company fails you yet again.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz to compuguybna

Member

to compuguybna
Yeah, many will still deny how much Sprint's network is improving. Sprint still needs to get Spark in all locations but it is indeed improving every month.

hamburglar
join:2002-04-29
united state

hamburglar

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

Their network has been improving for years... just a lot slower than everyone else. That's the problem.

snarf768
@telepacific.net

snarf768 to compuguybna

Anon

to compuguybna
Tell me where you notice a difference besides speed tests?
OldCableGuy (banned)
join:2014-12-19

OldCableGuy (banned)

Member

Re: LTE Speeds

Well 3/4 of the places I frequently visit (my home, my work, my inlaws house, and my parents house) have added Sprint LTE on 1900 and 800 and completely fixed their backhaul issues in the last 2 years.

The one place that didn't add LTE added 1x800 which means voice calls work perfectly, but is GMO so no LTE yet. So 100% improvement for me in 2 years.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

If only AT&T's data networks didn't suck in so many places

I've signed up back in the AIO Wireless days. I must say that AT&T's network is very spotty as far as good data rates are concerned. In certain areas, I'd be getting full 4 or 5 bars, yet the data rates would show 40%+ data loss, e.g. in Richardson, TX (which is especially funny, since it has some kind of AT&T headquarters), or Lewisville, TX.

»twitter.com/Mcnst/status ··· 36723457


At 40% data loss, nothing works. Yelp doesn't work (requires pressing various buttons / actions multiple times), Google Maps doesn't work (again, requests time out all the time, and multi-minute delay is introduced to the interface), even Google Voice doesn't work (timeouts etc). Also, push notifications don't work, either. And sending a single text message via Google Voice would often take like 4 minutes! No kidding!

I also have a postpaid Unlimited 4G with T-Mobile, and reliability seems to be just so much better than AIO / Cricket Wireless.

Definitely no objection to the new plans, though! (-: Depending on the area, it might be a good deal, but it's definitely not for everyone.

••••

scud77
@rr.com

scud77

Anon

happy cricket customer

not huge data users (on wifi a lot) so my wife and I (and my parents, her mom) did the cheapest 5 lines that included 500MB each at the time... that is now 2.5GB per line at no additional charges to us.

5 people... $100 total each month all in.

We bought Nexus 4s a while back (and I now have the new Moto G) so no monthly hardware costs at this point.

no brainer for our needs.

AnonDude
@charter.com

AnonDude

Anon

No Hotspot

What do you need 20 GB for if you can't use your phone as a hotspot?
AmericanMan
Premium Member
join:2013-12-28
united state

AmericanMan

Premium Member

Re: No Hotspot

So these Cricket plans don't include hotspot usage?

Darn...we use AT&T 4G to supplement our grandfathered Sprint 3G. We have 30 GB (including rollover) on two hotspots for about $180/month, and if the Cricket plan was eligible for hotspots we could've replaced our AT&T plan with two Cricket plans (20 GB @ $55 for 2 devices = $110).

Being capped at 8 Mbps wouldn't bother us too much, those are about the speeds we get on AT&T anyway.

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium Member
join:2004-11-17
Murfreesboro, TN

King P

Premium Member

Advanced Tier gets no Group Save discount...

If you have a multiple lines, you're better of staying on Pro (@10GBs/mo) because you'll get the Group Save discount. You won't get any discounts (with multiple lines) on the Advanced tier.

Advanced gets the autopay credit, but only on a single line. Oh well, 10GB/mo is plenty for me anyway.