Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Mintsim low cost cell phone service on Tmobile network

13 views
Skip to first unread message

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 18, 2018, 10:15:01 AM4/18/18
to
If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network. How well it might
work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
areas of use. For me it's working fantastic. They offer three plans,
all have unlimited voice and text:

2 MB 4g data $15/mth
5 MB $20
10 MB $25

When you hit the limit the data rate slows, but continues unlimited.

The one catch is that those rates are when you pay for a year in advance.
Rates are higher if you choose to buy 3 or 6 months of service. They
have an introductory deal where you can get 3 months of service as a
new customer at the above rates.

I believe they still have a deal on Amazon where for $5 you can get
a trial kit. They give you two sims. The first you can use for 100 mins
of voice, 100 texts, 100MB of data to try it out. If you decide to
sign up, you use the second sim and they activate it. I think you
can also apply the $5 towards any of the regular plans at that time.
It's worked great for me. I'm getting 70 Mbits download speed at home
here in NJ, I've seen 170 Mbits at spots I've been in. A friend has
it in CA and got 200 Mbits!

The Real Bev

unread,
Apr 18, 2018, 11:28:34 AM4/18/18
to
On 04/18/2018 07:14 AM, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
> If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
> Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network. How well it might
> work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
> areas of use. For me it's working fantastic. They offer three plans,
> all have unlimited voice and text:
>
> 2 MB 4g data $15/mth
> 5 MB $20
> 10 MB $25

10 MB/month? Are these bits or bytes? You can use 10 Mbits in a few
minutes. I don't think you can do ANYTHING with 2 Mbits.

> When you hit the limit the data rate slows, but continues unlimited.
>
> The one catch is that those rates are when you pay for a year in advance.
> Rates are higher if you choose to buy 3 or 6 months of service. They
> have an introductory deal where you can get 3 months of service as a
> new customer at the above rates.
>
> I believe they still have a deal on Amazon where for $5 you can get
> a trial kit. They give you two sims. The first you can use for 100 mins
> of voice, 100 texts, 100MB of data to try it out. If you decide to
> sign up, you use the second sim and they activate it. I think you
> can also apply the $5 towards any of the regular plans at that time.
> It's worked great for me. I'm getting 70 Mbits download speed at home
> here in NJ, I've seen 170 Mbits at spots I've been in. A friend has
> it in CA and got 200 Mbits!


--
Cheers, Bev
"If you're crazy, you better find a way to make money off it.
Otherwise they will lock you up" -- Hunter S. Thompson

Bob F

unread,
Apr 18, 2018, 1:40:04 PM4/18/18
to
On 4/18/2018 8:28 AM, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 04/18/2018 07:14 AM, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
>> If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
>> Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network.  How well it might
>> work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
>> areas of use.   For me it's working fantastic.  They offer three plans,
>> all have unlimited voice and text:
>>
>> 2 MB 4g data  $15/mth
>> 5 MB          $20
>> 10 MB         $25
>
> 10 MB/month?  Are these bits or bytes?  You can use 10 Mbits  in a few
> minutes.  I don't think you can do ANYTHING with 2 Mbits.

2 MB is $.10 of data on my PagePlus prepaid plan. An extra $10 for 8MB
does seem a little steep.

The Real Bev

unread,
Apr 18, 2018, 6:00:23 PM4/18/18
to
Are we sure that the OP quoted data in megabits or megabytes? Some
people are really sloppy about B/b.

Freedompop gives you 200MBytes free every month after buying either the
$1 SIM or the $20 hotspot. They have a newer hotspot, which might cost
more, but if you can get by with truly minimal usage AND are willing to
take the trouble to make sure you DON'T sign up for a monthly plan AND
are happy with their coverage, it's perfect.

--
Cheers, Bev
Some mornings it's just not worth chewing through the straps.

Bob F

unread,
Apr 19, 2018, 12:56:13 AM4/19/18
to
2 megabits is nothing. 2 megabytes is darn close to nothing. Neither
seems likely here.

Alright, I looked it up -

"$15/MO
Reg. Price $23/mo
2GB/MO 4G LTE"

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 20, 2018, 2:32:15 PM4/20/18
to
On Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 11:28:34 AM UTC-4, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 04/18/2018 07:14 AM, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
> > If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
> > Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network. How well it might
> > work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
> > areas of use. For me it's working fantastic. They offer three plans,
> > all have unlimited voice and text:
> >
> > 2 MB 4g data $15/mth
> > 5 MB $20
> > 10 MB $25
>
> 10 MB/month? Are these bits or bytes? You can use 10 Mbits in a few
> minutes. I don't think you can do ANYTHING with 2 Mbits.

Megabytes, which is how all the data usage on cell plans is quoted.

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 20, 2018, 2:33:33 PM4/20/18
to
On Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 10:15:01 AM UTC-4, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
> If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
> Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network. How well it might
> work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
> areas of use. For me it's working fantastic. They offer three plans,
> all have unlimited voice and text:
>
> 2 MB 4g data $15/mth
> 5 MB $20
> 10 MB $25


Oops, correction, I meant GB, gigabytes. Sorry.

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 20, 2018, 2:35:20 PM4/20/18
to
Well, I kind of got that right. It's megabytes or gigabytes, not bits.
But my original post I made a mistake and said MB, when it's actually
GB, gigabytes. Sorry for the confusion.

So:

2GB $15
5GB $20
10GB $25

The Real Bev

unread,
Apr 20, 2018, 7:01:01 PM4/20/18
to
That makes more sense!


--
Cheers, Bev
No lawyering. Prosecutors will be violated.

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 21, 2018, 12:11:18 PM4/21/18
to
Another interesting thing is the call clarity between phones on Mintsim
and I presume Tmobile, the host carrier, is exceptional. It's way better
voice than I've heard previously on Sprint or Verizon. It's like high
fidelity, crystal clear, sounds like the person is right next to you.
When going to another carrier, it's still very good, but there is a very
noticeable difference.

sms

unread,
Apr 26, 2018, 8:30:09 PM4/26/18
to
On 4/18/2018 7:14 AM, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
> If anyone is looking for excellent low cost phone service, I recommend
> Mintsim, which is a MVNO on the Tmobile network. How well it might
> work for you of course depends on the Tmobile coverage in your expected
> areas of use. For me it's working fantastic. They offer three plans,
> all have unlimited voice and text:
>
> 2 MB 4g data $15/mth
> 5 MB $20
> 10 MB $25

Cricket, which uses the far superior AT&T network, offers 4 lines with
5GB each, for $100 (used to be 5 lines for $100 but they recently raised
their prices for new accounts).

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 27, 2018, 11:02:46 AM4/27/18
to
Again, just for the record, I corrected my mistake earlier and those
numbers I posted should have been GB, not MB. So, you get 10GB on MintSim for $25.
As to who's coverage is better, Tmobile or ATT, I think that depends on
where you are located and where you intend to use the phone. The Tmobile
coverage and performance here in the Nj/NYC area has been excellent.

sms

unread,
Apr 27, 2018, 12:42:23 PM4/27/18
to
Just don't ever travel west. T-Mobile is okay on the east coast. Out
west it is basically unusable if you ever venture out of the urban core.
>

The Real Bev

unread,
Apr 27, 2018, 2:19:43 PM4/27/18
to
Not quite that bad, but their coverage map is a LITTLE optimistic.
There are some places in the Hinterlands (Brian Head, UT, for instance)
with excellent coverage, and some city locations with miserable
coverage. MY house gets fewer bars than either of my neighbors :-( The
phone works, but it works better if I walk 50 feet.

--
Cheers, Bev
I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have
never experienced any prob

tra...@optonline.net

unread,
Apr 28, 2018, 1:20:12 AM4/28/18
to
I think all the carriers show coverage maps that are optimistic. There are apps like opensignal that you can install that show actual signal strength as reported by all the other folks who have the app in the area they travel. But you also have to factor in that att, verizon, etc will have more users, so more complete maps. Meaning if there is a blank area, it may just mean that carrier x doesn't have a customer in the area with the app on their phone.
0 new messages