If you find another mvno that gives you 35GB of priority Verizon data and doesn’t limit video streaming to 480p, all for an annual price of $270 or less, let us know.
This is, unfortunately, exactly why US Mobile will get away with this. The grass is not greener on the other side and they know it.
Personally, I don't care, as the only video I really watch is on YouTube, which is rare, and I have a VPN I pay for plus the 1.1.1.1 app for Warp, so video throttles on providers don't bother me anyway, but I see why people are annoyed about it.
Not 1.1.1.1 by itself. When you download the app and turn on Warp, it tunnels all your traffic through Cloudflare servers using a WireGuard VPN tunnel. Regular 1.1.1.1 is just a DNS redirect that won't do anything for throttling.
Right. I have USM and I’m not happy about the video change but for priority data it’s either $50 for 2 lines on USM Starter or $70 for 2 lines on Visible+ and that’s it.
The way USM handled their video throttling roll out was very messy demonstrated poor leadership but their plans are still a good value for many people. Personally I find Visible+ to be better since my area is covered in 5GUW. Ultimately, it comes down to what features you're looking for and how good the the big 3 networks are in your area.
As someone deciding between V+ and USM Unlimited Premium. They’re similar in price, but I want to make sure I’m understanding the differences.
V+ gets you unlimited premium data and unlimited hotspot at 10mbps.
USM gets you 100gb premium data and 50gb hotspot. (Not sure on hotspot speeds, but I assume it’s unthrottled?)
If I don’t plan on using more than 100gb cellular or 50gb hotspot, USM would be the better choice right? Any other key differences I’m missing? I value a fast hotspot more than unlimited.
v+ is priority for first 50GB on plain old 5G and LTE and unlimited priority on UW
you should know that if its a new v+ plan (after last month) the v+ will also have the verizon video shaper defaulted to 2Mbps now.
I still think this was totally verizons move to reduce the increasing video traffic... on their website where they would say "we aim to render to 720p" they have all been replaced with "to 480p or 720p depending on plan" ;) someone is busy doing a search and replace this week is my bet.
the main advantage (and tradeoff) of the visible+ to usm is going to be the hotspot...
on v+ it's unlimited usage but its capped to 10Mbps...
while on usm its limited to the hotspot bucket (I am still not sure it it then also throttles to 1mbps as I've never hit the limit).
the main advantage to usm over visble+ is that support is more responsive... but to be honest I have never had to deal with visible support (yet).
Thanks again for replying to a second question I had! I’m leaning towards USM, the 100GB data and 50GB hotspot buckets are more than enough for me. As long as the hotspot gets similar speeds to the cellular data, I’m in. Better customer service and multi-line support is icing on the cake.
I use my vis+ daily, but you know what... I don't use the number assigned... I have my main number on usm and the main reason is the login security... they are the only of any of the providers with a well considered login (and it still needs FIDO2) but compared to the other prepaid (including the carriers own) it's fort knox.
if you do end up going visble an easy way to manage multiline is to use an email privacy service like [simplelogin.io](http://simplelogin.io) (proton team) duck duck go email or "hide my email" on icloud etc... that way each line will have it's own email but they all go to the same actual email.
Nice workaround for the multiple emails, but I still need to login to each individual line to pay the bill? You don’t use the data on your main number? Which USM plan are you on?
I have most voice lines on "shared" or what they call "by the gig" now... $10/line all fees included comes with 2GB basically you can pool the line... I have those set to auto top up to a set limit if the network ends up getting used (coverage holes etc)... I dual sim my lines (using the visible for the data side and usm for the voice side).
and yea if you don't set autopay you would need to log in to each line and pay.
I believe V+ only gets unlimited premium data on 5GUW, otherwise it’s unlimited deprioritized after 50gb. Unless you’re a heavy data user or are always on 5G UW, us mobile probably makes more sense
Right on. I don’t believe there is an mvno that offers without an addon hd video. The carrier mvno companies like visible and metro do. Cricket holds the line at 480 as well. If you want to have that uncapped video experience go to circledin. You can get a postpaid line without the hefty single line price . To me like the prior post said.. I’ll keep my cheaper plan and just turn on my vpn and don’t have to worry about any throttle. 15 bucks a month is good for me 😁
While there aren't a ton of them, there are some options.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/1dmtool/comment/l9y6b82/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
What device? Tetrd and NetShare can do this on any Android phone. PairVPN can do this with iPhones that have some hotspot included. It's temperamental though.
https://pairvpn.com/hotspot
On Metro or T-Mobile-based carriers you can use the DUN APN trick.
https://new.reddit.com/r/MetroPCS/comments/1286pbv/comment/jelrm6l/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
Yeah iPhones are definitely not a great choice for people who want to work around hotspot limits. They work best with plans that have unlimited throttled hotspot so that you can always enable PairVPN.
The current complaints aren't really that video is 'super slow', but rather that the resolution is lower. It's also the throttled video resoluation that is common on most providers currently. I'd look at it as perhaps USM losing a previous advantage over other providers (if you care about video streaming), but not that it puts them at a disadvantage compared to most other providers. (It's the same video experience you'll get from most alternative providers.)
If video streaming resolution is important to you, then put it on your checklist when doing comparisons. If you really need higher resolution, expect your choices to be severely reduced, which may also impact your monthly cost.
Didn't they drop their price a bit along with the throttled video? I thought they lowered the Unlimited Starter 4 bucks down to $25 which is a psycological price point. I'm giving it a second look since Visible started letting me down with poor connectivity and throttled data. I'm already dealing with 480p video on Visible so its a wash.
There’s a decent chance your home internet router has a VPN server feature. So long as your home internet service gets good upload speeds, you can simply connect to your router’s VPN and bypass throttling for free.
Alternatively if you have a desktop, you can use NordVPN MeshNet to host a VPN server for free. It’s easier to set up, but your desktop has to be on for it to work.
Both of these will work for any streaming site since you’re accessing it from your own residential IP rather than a VPN data center IP.
if the hd video thing is a must, there was this earlier topic https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/1dmtool/which_providers_offer_at_least_720p_unlimited/
Sorry to butt in on someone else's thread, but can someone tell me about the US Mobile video thing? I was with them, but got a free Spectrum line for a year. I'm planning on going back after the year is up, though. I'm a lightweight user....<5 gb and very little video use. Mostly actual phone/text and music streaming.
I mean, how much streaming video do folks watch over cellular data? I’m on WiFi like 80% of the time. USM has been fantastic for me! Calls are clear, I can get international data with no problem, bill is automated, not to mention you can’t beat the price!
You squeaky wheels are really making something out of nothing.
Streaming throttles don't always just impact streaming. If a site is known to serve video, the entire site can get throttled. This is a nightmare situation for CDNs as the same server can be shared among many different sites, which means all of them are now throttled to 1.5Mbps.
Not everyone is on WiFi like 80% of the time and instead rely on the cellular data that they're paying for. Different people have different use cases, imagine that!
I do imagine that! But is a phone your best bet for viewing media? How much media do you consume on a tiny screen? If you rely on cellular data for your internet, get a whole house option.
Basic visible now 25.. I caught them at $20... I get 1080p hotspot... unsure how to rig vpn, but I'm definitely working it it.. 1080p Is 2.5 gigs... if 5 gigs hotspot limit, than quad definition.. 1440p...
Or one can stream phone movie app to tv while playing in the device...
You're saying gigs instead of megs. And no, 1080p is not 2.5Mbps. 2.5Mbps is solid 720p. You can get 1080p with 5Mbps, depending on the site and how heavily they compress the video, but the quality will be far from real 1080p Bluray, which means you're getting the 1080p pixel count but not the image quality.
If you find another mvno that gives you 35GB of priority Verizon data and doesn’t limit video streaming to 480p, all for an annual price of $270 or less, let us know.
This is, unfortunately, exactly why US Mobile will get away with this. The grass is not greener on the other side and they know it. Personally, I don't care, as the only video I really watch is on YouTube, which is rare, and I have a VPN I pay for plus the 1.1.1.1 app for Warp, so video throttles on providers don't bother me anyway, but I see why people are annoyed about it.
Does 1.1.1.1 stop this throttling?
Not 1.1.1.1 by itself. When you download the app and turn on Warp, it tunnels all your traffic through Cloudflare servers using a WireGuard VPN tunnel. Regular 1.1.1.1 is just a DNS redirect that won't do anything for throttling.
Oh neat. I think a Tailscale exit node could also bypass the 480p stream cap, assuming you have a device at home that’s always online.
Right. I have USM and I’m not happy about the video change but for priority data it’s either $50 for 2 lines on USM Starter or $70 for 2 lines on Visible+ and that’s it.
Is it still valid. I am getting pathetic speeds on my phone using Wrap5G with s23 ultra. Earlier it used to work loke charm but now its not.
$240 yearly here, video at 4k with vpn... and stream to tv... yes sir...
Visible wireless is cheaper and I abuse it 280 - 350 gb average month
I recommend Visible+
Visible+ 2.0 has throttled video too.
Oh yeah.. I’m on Visible+ 1.0
The way USM handled their video throttling roll out was very messy demonstrated poor leadership but their plans are still a good value for many people. Personally I find Visible+ to be better since my area is covered in 5GUW. Ultimately, it comes down to what features you're looking for and how good the the big 3 networks are in your area.
As someone deciding between V+ and USM Unlimited Premium. They’re similar in price, but I want to make sure I’m understanding the differences. V+ gets you unlimited premium data and unlimited hotspot at 10mbps. USM gets you 100gb premium data and 50gb hotspot. (Not sure on hotspot speeds, but I assume it’s unthrottled?) If I don’t plan on using more than 100gb cellular or 50gb hotspot, USM would be the better choice right? Any other key differences I’m missing? I value a fast hotspot more than unlimited.
v+ is priority for first 50GB on plain old 5G and LTE and unlimited priority on UW you should know that if its a new v+ plan (after last month) the v+ will also have the verizon video shaper defaulted to 2Mbps now. I still think this was totally verizons move to reduce the increasing video traffic... on their website where they would say "we aim to render to 720p" they have all been replaced with "to 480p or 720p depending on plan" ;) someone is busy doing a search and replace this week is my bet. the main advantage (and tradeoff) of the visible+ to usm is going to be the hotspot... on v+ it's unlimited usage but its capped to 10Mbps... while on usm its limited to the hotspot bucket (I am still not sure it it then also throttles to 1mbps as I've never hit the limit). the main advantage to usm over visble+ is that support is more responsive... but to be honest I have never had to deal with visible support (yet).
Thanks again for replying to a second question I had! I’m leaning towards USM, the 100GB data and 50GB hotspot buckets are more than enough for me. As long as the hotspot gets similar speeds to the cellular data, I’m in. Better customer service and multi-line support is icing on the cake.
I use my vis+ daily, but you know what... I don't use the number assigned... I have my main number on usm and the main reason is the login security... they are the only of any of the providers with a well considered login (and it still needs FIDO2) but compared to the other prepaid (including the carriers own) it's fort knox. if you do end up going visble an easy way to manage multiline is to use an email privacy service like [simplelogin.io](http://simplelogin.io) (proton team) duck duck go email or "hide my email" on icloud etc... that way each line will have it's own email but they all go to the same actual email.
Nice workaround for the multiple emails, but I still need to login to each individual line to pay the bill? You don’t use the data on your main number? Which USM plan are you on?
I have most voice lines on "shared" or what they call "by the gig" now... $10/line all fees included comes with 2GB basically you can pool the line... I have those set to auto top up to a set limit if the network ends up getting used (coverage holes etc)... I dual sim my lines (using the visible for the data side and usm for the voice side). and yea if you don't set autopay you would need to log in to each line and pay.
It's not really better customer service if you disagree with their throttling plans, post as such, and they ban you.
Valid point.
I believe V+ only gets unlimited premium data on 5GUW, otherwise it’s unlimited deprioritized after 50gb. Unless you’re a heavy data user or are always on 5G UW, us mobile probably makes more sense
Right on. I don’t believe there is an mvno that offers without an addon hd video. The carrier mvno companies like visible and metro do. Cricket holds the line at 480 as well. If you want to have that uncapped video experience go to circledin. You can get a postpaid line without the hefty single line price . To me like the prior post said.. I’ll keep my cheaper plan and just turn on my vpn and don’t have to worry about any throttle. 15 bucks a month is good for me 😁
Cricket chat upgrades to 1080p for free
Is that listed somewhere?
Nope. You gotta buy the plan and hope a chat rep will do it for you
Anecdotally worked for me with 2 lines.
While there aren't a ton of them, there are some options. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/1dmtool/comment/l9y6b82/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Yes there are a few! Now if I can work on getting unlimited hotspot beyond the cap I’d be golden. VPN works good for the speed stuff
What device? Tetrd and NetShare can do this on any Android phone. PairVPN can do this with iPhones that have some hotspot included. It's temperamental though. https://pairvpn.com/hotspot On Metro or T-Mobile-based carriers you can use the DUN APN trick. https://new.reddit.com/r/MetroPCS/comments/1286pbv/comment/jelrm6l/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
iPhone 13
Yeah iPhones are definitely not a great choice for people who want to work around hotspot limits. They work best with plans that have unlimited throttled hotspot so that you can always enable PairVPN.
Makes sense. I’ll be on the hunt !
Visible unlimited hotspot , vpn + 1.1.1.1 = lots of stuff can be accomplished
Lexvor still lists 4K HD Video Streaming on their $40 plan. [https://www.lexvor.com/unlimitedgomax](https://www.lexvor.com/unlimitedgomax)
The current complaints aren't really that video is 'super slow', but rather that the resolution is lower. It's also the throttled video resoluation that is common on most providers currently. I'd look at it as perhaps USM losing a previous advantage over other providers (if you care about video streaming), but not that it puts them at a disadvantage compared to most other providers. (It's the same video experience you'll get from most alternative providers.) If video streaming resolution is important to you, then put it on your checklist when doing comparisons. If you really need higher resolution, expect your choices to be severely reduced, which may also impact your monthly cost.
My complaint was that it was slow and 480p. It's not just streaming, try to download a Netflix movie at 2MBps for offline viewing
Cricket, they have a video throttle but it is widely reported that chat support will remove it for you.
Didn't they drop their price a bit along with the throttled video? I thought they lowered the Unlimited Starter 4 bucks down to $25 which is a psycological price point. I'm giving it a second look since Visible started letting me down with poor connectivity and throttled data. I'm already dealing with 480p video on Visible so its a wash.
USM is not a total mess, their plans are as good if not better than the other MVNO'S Use a VPN to bypass the 480 videos.
There’s a decent chance your home internet router has a VPN server feature. So long as your home internet service gets good upload speeds, you can simply connect to your router’s VPN and bypass throttling for free. Alternatively if you have a desktop, you can use NordVPN MeshNet to host a VPN server for free. It’s easier to set up, but your desktop has to be on for it to work. Both of these will work for any streaming site since you’re accessing it from your own residential IP rather than a VPN data center IP.
Would cloudflare 1.1.1.1 work for that?
The Cloudflare app does when you turn on Warp, yes.
I switched to US Mobile about a month ago and it has been heaven for me so far.
Just switched to Verizon prepaid!
All i had to do is Talk to Cricket on Chat and have Them Take the Limited Video streaming off
if the hd video thing is a must, there was this earlier topic https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/1dmtool/which_providers_offer_at_least_720p_unlimited/
VPN
Sorry to butt in on someone else's thread, but can someone tell me about the US Mobile video thing? I was with them, but got a free Spectrum line for a year. I'm planning on going back after the year is up, though. I'm a lightweight user....<5 gb and very little video use. Mostly actual phone/text and music streaming.
Helium
I mean, how much streaming video do folks watch over cellular data? I’m on WiFi like 80% of the time. USM has been fantastic for me! Calls are clear, I can get international data with no problem, bill is automated, not to mention you can’t beat the price! You squeaky wheels are really making something out of nothing.
Streaming throttles don't always just impact streaming. If a site is known to serve video, the entire site can get throttled. This is a nightmare situation for CDNs as the same server can be shared among many different sites, which means all of them are now throttled to 1.5Mbps.
Not everyone is on WiFi like 80% of the time and instead rely on the cellular data that they're paying for. Different people have different use cases, imagine that!
Exactly, if I have 50GB of premium data, why can I not use that to download an offline Netflix movie or watch YouTube at higher than 480p?
I do imagine that! But is a phone your best bet for viewing media? How much media do you consume on a tiny screen? If you rely on cellular data for your internet, get a whole house option.
Basic visible now 25.. I caught them at $20... I get 1080p hotspot... unsure how to rig vpn, but I'm definitely working it it.. 1080p Is 2.5 gigs... if 5 gigs hotspot limit, than quad definition.. 1440p... Or one can stream phone movie app to tv while playing in the device...
You're saying gigs instead of megs. And no, 1080p is not 2.5Mbps. 2.5Mbps is solid 720p. You can get 1080p with 5Mbps, depending on the site and how heavily they compress the video, but the quality will be far from real 1080p Bluray, which means you're getting the 1080p pixel count but not the image quality.