T-Mobile’s 5G network has become the benchmark for high-speed mobile data in the US, making it the carrier of choice for those who want the best possible data speeds. While everyone’s experience will be a little different and another carrier may be stronger in your area, T-Mobile is still the network to beat overall. That said, when it comes to T-Mobile’s plans, its postpaid options can be expensive and loaded with unnecessary features.

Don’t get me wrong, T-Mobile has a lot of nice-to-haves like international roaming, Netflix included, and in-flight Wi-Fi, but for most people, a phone plan just needs to be talk, text, data, and not much more. Luckily, through a handful of prepaid brands, T-Mobile’s best value plans are prepaid, and a lot cheaper than the carrier’s postpaid plans.

Do MVNOs use the same network as T-Mobile?

MVNOs and prepaid carriers use one or more of the Big Three networks

Source: Jules Wang / Android Police

Building a massive nationwide network is anything but cheap, and carriers like T-Mobile are doing whatever they can to get people to use it. From competitive home internet plans on its 5G network to unlimited phone plans, T-Mobile really wants to be your total connectivity solution. However, not everyone can, or is willing to pay for, a high-priced, feature-rich, postpaid plan like Go5G Plus.

If you want to use the T-Mobile network, but T-Mobile’s plans don’t make sense for your needs, you can always use a prepaid carrier like Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, or an MVNO like US Mobile, which often strip out as many unneeded extras as possible to bring the price of the plan down.

These carriers use the same network as T-Mobile customers, but the priority level of the connection is lower, meaning that if you put a postpaid T-Mobile phone next to a Mint Mobile phone, the T-Mobile would likely be faster on a congested tower.

One of T-Mobile’s greatest strengths has been its 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum, which forms the backbone of its 5G network and has plenty of capacity for fast speeds on both postpaid and prepaid plans. If you’re doing a speed test, it’s encouraging to see multiple hundreds of megabits per second, but for almost anything you do on your phone, a stable 25Mbps or so is plenty.

That being said, in my Mint Mobile review, I saw plenty of speed tests north of 300Mbps, which is faster than many home internet connections.

Pick a carrier with all the features you need

Figure out which features are the most important to you

You may not think about your phone plan that much, but a lot of people are overpaying on a plan with more data than they need, and a bunch of features they don’t even know they have.

How do you know which features you actually need? First, check your phone’s settings to see how much data you typically use in a month. Once you’ve got this number, you can narrow your plan options to those with enough data that you don’t need to change the way you use your phone.

You’ll also want to take note of how often you use features like international roaming. If you live near Mexico or Canada, it’s more likely you’ll need a plan with international roaming. If you live in Kentucky, however, it’s probably cheaper to get international data as needed with a short-term international SIM. You can also think about if you want Amazon Prime and Google One, which are bundled with some Metro by T-Mobile plans.

Related

T-Mobile vs. Metro: Is premium data worth the premium price?

Metro is one of T-Mobile’s prepaid brands and it’s one of the best for heavy users on a budget with unlimited data

Even with some of these features, an MVNO carrier like Google Fi uses the T-Mobile network for its core domestic data but offers some of the best international features of any carrier. Google Fi is also a good choice for those with one of the best smartwatches for Android with free smartwatch connectivity, and more.

What plans can you get?

Get a plan on a network you trust

If you’re ready to give a new carrier a shot, you’re honestly spoiled for choice with T-Mobile-owned carriers like Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile, and Metro by T-Mobile with a vast range of plans for every budget. There are also MVNOs, like US Mobile, Google Fi, and Tello that use T-Mobile’s network for much of their coverage. US Mobile is unique in that it offers SIMs for all the Big Three carriers, putting the choice completely in its customers’ hands.

Starting with Mint and Ultra Mobile, these two carriers are fairly straightforward with plans ranging from just talk and text to unlimited data. They both offer family plan options and multi-month payment plans to help those with only one line.

The worst thing about Mint Mobile, though, is you have to pay quite a bit up front for one of its multi-month plans to get the best value, and not everyone has that kind of cash sitting around. Ultra can make more sense with one-month options for its plans, and can then be renewed for a single month, or three, six, or 12 months if you want better savings down the line.

Related

Mint Mobile vs. Ultra Mobile: Are more options better?

Save with multi-month plan discounts

Metro by T-Mobile is set up more like a budget version of T-Mobile with a fairly unremarkable stack of plans with unlimited data and a set amount of hotspot data. With multi-line savings, Metro is one of the best bets for families looking for a plan that’s a little easier to understand, even if Metro isn’t exactly the best deal you can get on unlimited data.

Another carrier that should be on your shortlist is US Mobile, which flexes its independence by not committing to a single network and instead allows customers to choose which SIM they want to use between T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. US Mobile even lets customers switch SIMs if they find their choice wasn’t right, and its top plan even allows you to change whenever you want for free.

It must be said that T-Mobile as a postpaid option could still work out for some people, especially those who like to use the latest hardware. Whether we like it or not, carriers offer some of the best deals on new phones with their extended payment plans. T-Mobile’s top Go5G Plus and Go5G Next plans are some of the best if you want the latest hardware without paying full price for the phone. It’s also worth remembering that T-Mobile’s prices are a lot more competitive when you bring a second line or three with you.