PLEASE tell me why I shouldn't switch from AT&T to Cricket?

[Watagump]

I got a brand new still in the box unlocked S4 on eBay for $300. Slipped in a cricket SIM and running ever since.

Mine was $185 on ebay, suppose to also be new, sim card $4.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291461369147?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[tjnamtiw]

I'm presently an ATT 'supporter' paying WAY TOO MUCH. I'd like to switch to Cricket but I see in the fine print that number porting is not available to present ATT customers. What's up with that? Must I go with another carrier for a few months before switching to Cricket?

Also, I thought you COULD use your phones as portable hot spots with Cricket? I saw that someone posted above that you can't. I know Total wireless won't let you unless you pay another $10 and subscribe to a higher data plan.

 

[panthdave]

I'm presently an ATT 'supporter' paying WAY TOO MUCH. I'd like to switch to Cricket but I see in the fine print that number porting is not available to present ATT customers. What's up with that? Must I go with another carrier for a few months before switching to Cricket?

Also, I thought you COULD use your phones as portable hot spots with Cricket? I saw that someone posted above that you can't. I know Total wireless won't let you unless you pay another $10 and subscribe to a higher data plan.

I am using a Sony Xperia Z Ultra BYOP and my hotspot service works great but I do not abuse and hardly use the hotspot service but for emergencies it works great. Do not know if Cricket monitors and do not want my service terminated otherwise I use only when needed and no problems. Example: One Sunday my cable internet went down for the day and connected my laptop to my Sony Hotspot with Cricket and worked great and no warnings from Cricket. That is horrible you cannot port from AT&T so port to straighttalk for a month and then port over to Cricket. I ported from StraightTalk when joining Cricket no problems.

 

[DonB]

Easy to find out about the port, simply call them. It's possible but does not seem right.

 

[tube517]

So, I just switched to MetroPCS this past Friday. I don't think I will be staying too long. I ported my number over from T-Mobile. I have some questions:

1. What is the earliest I could switch to Cricket AND port my number? My billing due date for Metro is on the 25th of the month.

2. If I switch to Cricket, can I use more than one device (unlocked) or are we allowed only one device per line/sim?

3. What if I buy a used unlocked phone and use it on Cricket AND port my number?

Thanks to anyone who can answer

 

[stevedec]

2. No, one device per line, the same as any other carrier.
3. That's exactly what I did.

 

[tube517]

2. No, one device per line, the same as any other carrier.
3. That's exactly what I did.

Thanks but I was able to use my sim in more than one phone w/T-Mobile. I didn't do my research and Metro won't allow me to use my own unlocked phone in addition to my LG Leon, that I bought from them.

(Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread. I should probably post my own.)

I'm just wondering if I could switch to Cricket AND port my number after one month with MetroPCS.

 

[greenghost2212]

If your phone is GSM and unlocked u can use it on metro.

 

[DonB]

Guys, this is not a Metro thread, if you have questions about Cricket post here, other then that post in the proper carrier section. Lets keep the thread on topic.

 

[tube517]

Guys, this is not a Metro thread, if you have questions about Cricket post here, other then that post in the proper carrier section. Lets keep the thread on topic.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread but my intention is to eventually switch to Cricket. It's just that I'm on Metro now and am trying to see if I can port to Cricket so soon.

 

[DonB]

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread but my intention is to eventually switch to Cricket. It's just that I'm on Metro now and am trying to see if I can port to Cricket so soon.

Best way to know is to call Cricket or stop by one of there supported dealers, they will be best to give you an answer on this, as many have different opinions on this when it comes to porting.

 

[Crashdamage]

1. You need to ask MetroPCS that question. But as I understand it, you can move the number any time as long as your bill is paid up.

2. You are allowed one SIM per line.. You can swap that SIM into multiple devices.

3. Then you have a used phone with your number to do whatever you want.

 

[DC2015]

I found this thread thru Google. So let me share my experience with Cricket.

I was a 10+ year AT&T customer and got very fed up with their pricing & service. I was paying $72/mo (with taxes) for one of their crappy plans with 200 text message cap and 200 MB data cap! (When they'd also charge me $10 or even maybe $15 automatically if I go over a data limit.) The service was not that great either. The 4G/LTE connection was not that fast. (I am in a somewhat rural area in the WA state, in a city of 45,000 people.) But the most annoying part was paying that much for that little service.

So I waited for 2 years for my iPhone contract to expire (sorry, guys I know it's an Android forum) and then had AT&T unlock it. I then checked around, and it seemed that Cricket was the best bang for your buck, for the year 2015 (unless you live in a major metro area with great coverage, which I don't.)

So I logged in to Cricket site and first asked their sales rep via an online chat. They were very helpful! I was basically curious about two things: 1) Can I port my AT&T number? and 2) Can I sign up for a test SIM?

The answer to both questions is yes. (Someone asked about porting their number, and it is absolutely possible! It can be done via Cricket web site as well. No need to contact annoying AT&T support. I think you'll need to know some IDs or passwords, or something like that from AT&T and they'll port your number for you.)

So what I'm doing now, after having unlocked my iPhone 5S, I ordered a SIM with a new number from Cricket. (It cost me $40 + $10 + $tax = $52 + change to get a SIM in the mail.) They ship it within 2-3 days. Then you just pop it in your phone, let it initialize and you're done. You're literally good to go within 2 minutes. (The hardest part for me was to find how to open the SIM door on my iPhone.) Then if you want, set up your voice mail and that's it. All your data, apps, phone contacts, etc. remains the same.

I haven't done any extensive testing of their LTE network yet, but so far I'm very impressed. (I'll max it out later to see the speeds.) I tried loading YouTube 4K video on my iPhone using Cricket LTE and I swear it loaded faster than on my desktop with a WIFI connection. I also tried it in town and it also loaded lightning fast. So I'm really impressed so far. (Definitely beats data speeds that I was getting from AT&T in my area.)

I also like their web site. You can log in, and check your usage stats. It takes about a day for them to get current, so don't expect to see immediate results. What I really liked is how simple their web site is. (Anyone who dealt with the AT&T web site and how complex and bloated it is, will appreciate Cricket's simplicity.)

I like the way you pay your bill at Cricket too. You pre-pay, so for instance, to use it for this month I need to pay first. But that is no problem for me. I'll actually sign up for their autopay w/my credit card and get $5 off. That's awesome! So no more late fees with AT&T if you miss your payment.

Unfortunately they don't accept PayPal, but the rep told me that they're working on it so it may happen in the future.

There's a negative too, that I was able to find. Since I got this new (test) number with Cricket, they keep texting me, asking me whether or not I like the service, if I like their web site, etc. That's annoying! There was an option to stop those. So I had to text STOP back to them. So far, I haven't seen any more of those marketing texts since it happened earlier today, so if those continue coming, that would be annoying!

Also I haven't looked into it, someone was asking about tethering, they do provide a way to do it. Here's the page:
https://www.cricketwireless.com/sup...s/mobile-hotspot/customer/mobile-hotspot.html
I believe if you have a $50 data plan they will allow you to do it.

Oh, and lastly, about canceling this temp SIM. I don't know how it will go (I'll post here after my month runs out.) But I asked their sales rep and he told me that it's pretty easy to cancel -- just don't pay for it and it will be canceled over time. (I think I will contact them and have them do it for me.) After that, if I don't run into any major issues, I will switch my main number to Cricket and be a happy customer. SO FAR IT'S DEFINITELY AN UPGRADE FROM AT&T!!! So good riddance the latter!

 

[Saladmaster]

Mine was $185 on ebay, suppose to also be new, sim card $4.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291461369147?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Does it run 4g lte

 

[Saladmaster]

Does this phone have lte bands to govtop speed with cricket?

 

[Hogan773]

Funny that I was searching about Cricket and came across the post I started from last year!

As an update I went with GoPhone. I like the fast data speed and low ping times. It is "real" ATT. However I'm starting to butt up against my data usage of 1.5gigs in some months which is causing me to again consider Cricket. After discounts I pay 40 a month for GoPhone. For 35 a month I could get 2.5gigs on Cricket. But then I am trading for slower data (although probably won't notice in real life) and taking away ability to tether.

As an aside, I set up my mom on Cricket once her ATT contract opened up and she likes it and hadn't had any problems.

For the gentleman who posted that his service is much BETTER than ATT I find that suspect. Cricket operates on the ATT network so not sure how you get a better signal by using a cricket Sim.

 

[stevedec]

"But then I am trading for slower data and taking away ability to tether. '
Data speed should be the same - signal is 4G LTE. You can tether on Cricket, but you have to be on the $50 plan.

 

[kate]

"But then I am trading for slower data and taking away ability to tether. '
Data speed should be the same - signal is 4G LTE.

Cricket throttles all 4G LTE at 8Mbps max, so some other AT&T MVNOs will have faster LTE then Cricket:
https://www.cricketwireless.com/legal-info/acceptable-use-policy.html#data

 

[AZgl1500]

Cricket throttles all 4G LTE at 8Mbps max, so some other AT&T MVNOs will have faster LTE then Cricket:
https://www.cricketwireless.com/legal-info/acceptable-use-policy.html#data

I have considered having a Cricket account as a backup for when I find myself in the hinterlands of no service. It has only happened once this year, so not sure it would be cost effective for me. But, I like the idea as an option.

8 mBps is not a bad rate, my friend up the street has ADSL at 5 mbps and he watches NetFlix w/o any problems.
As far as normal surfing the web, you will not even notice it being slow.... webpages just popup like normal.

I'm on Verizon ATM, and depending on where I am, can get transfer rates as fast as 40 mBps, but the normal is around 11 mbps in my rural areas. Still, that is no slouch for normal surfing.

 

[vkry47]

Love Cricket

 

[DjMikeWatt]

Old thread, but I thought I'd chime in as Google ranks this pretty highly.

I have been on Cricket for a couple of years now. I tried Metro, Virgin, Straight Talk... found this to be the best overall. Here are some things to note:

The OP mentioned that you can add 1GB of data (if you're going to go over and get throttled) for $10. NEVER DO THIS. Instead, just change your plan to the next highest plan for the remainder of your billing cycle. You can change plans whenever you want. The higher plan is only $10 more, but it gives you more than 1GB for that $10. If you have the 300MB plan, you'll get 2.5 GB; 2.5GB plan gets 5GB, etc. So, it just makes sense to upgrade your plan for the same price and get more than just 1GB. Secondly, they PRO-RATE the plan change. So, not only are you getting MORE DATA, but you are paying LESS MONEY for it!

Secondly, I have Cricket for my personal cell and AT&T for my work cell. I use a Nexus 5 on Cricket and an iPhone 5S on AT&T. I have areas near where I live in which I have service on the AT&T iPhone and NO SERVICE on the Cricket Nexus 5. I don't know if this is due to the network or due to the radios in the phones (I suppose I could swap SIMS but I haven't).

That is my input. I hope it helps!!

 

[DonB]

Old thread, but I thought I'd chime in as Google ranks this pretty highly.

I have been on Cricket for a couple of years now. I tried Metro, Virgin, Straight Talk... found this to be the best overall. Here are some things to note:

The OP mentioned that you can add 1GB of data (if you're going to go over and get throttled) for $10. NEVER DO THIS. Instead, just change your plan to the next highest plan for the remainder of your billing cycle. You can change plans whenever you want. The higher plan is only $10 more, but it gives you more than 1GB for that $10. If you have the 300MB plan, you'll get 2.5 GB; 2.5GB plan gets 5GB, etc. So, it just makes sense to upgrade your plan for the same price and get more than just 1GB. Secondly, they PRO-RATE the plan change. So, not only are you getting MORE DATA, but you are paying LESS MONEY for it!

Secondly, I have Cricket for my personal cell and AT&T for my work cell. I use a Nexus 5 on Cricket and an iPhone 5S on AT&T. I have areas near where I live in which I have service on the AT&T iPhone and NO SERVICE on the Cricket Nexus 5. I don't know if this is due to the network or due to the radios in the phones (I suppose I could swap SIMS but I haven't).

That is my input. I hope it helps!!

Swapping the SIMS would be a good test to do and see, report back

 

[jmessick]

I just switched from StraightTalk on AT&T to GoPhone after StraightTalk had a brain-fart and decided that I was disputing all my charges with them on my VISA. VISA could find no evidence of this, but since StraightTalk was unable to straighten it out and it looked like I would be without service for most of a week at least I just gave up and went to the local AT&T store and let them hook me up with a new SIM. I went from 5Gb of data to 1.5 Gb, which is currently more than enough, and even saved a few dollars a month. I'm loving the LTE data. This thread has me very intrigued about the Cricket, as I didn't know they were now owned by AT&T. I really can't imagine an 8 Gb download limit being a problem for anyone. I have seen up to 29 Mb download speeds locally but it wasn't that long ago that I had a 3 Mb connection for my home and that was sufficient. I'll probably stick with AT&T, but if I find that I'm needing more data then I'll give Cricket another look. As an aside, I recetnly learned that T-Mobile has a $3/month plan which give you 30 minutes or 30 texts or a combination. Data is $5/500 Mb for one day or $10/1 Gb for a week. I got the sim for my old Nexus 4 just to have a backup phone. It works fine, though coverage is not as good in my area. For $3/month it's perfect.

 

[bishop deville]

i thought id benefit from the free phone promo ...i was wrong

TransferMy Number
Your phone number is eligible to transfer, but it doesn't qualify for the device discount. You can continue to purchase the phone in your cart at the regular price or go back and shop for a different phone.

 

[DonB]

Free things sometimes come at a cost, we all know there are no free rides