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Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

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Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

Edited #1

Peter Martin

Visible Wireless is a digital mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) wholly owned by Verizon that offers affordable prepaid cell phone plans. What distinguishes them is that all their plans offer UNLIMITED data. Many use this just for the data when other alternatives are not available;  e.g, traveling in an RV, a "home" internet connection when there are no cable or fiber options available. My fiber connection has been out since Hurricane Helene, and I am using it as my only internet connection at home until they repair the fiber lines (if that is ever going to happen). My only other option was StarLink with an upfront equipment cost of about $700 plus installation cost, and $120/month access. StarLink speeds are much faster, but the speeds offered by Visible are adequate for most people's needs.

Here are the key details:

Service Basics

  • Launched in May 2018 as an all-digital wireless carrier

  • Operates exclusively on Verizon's 5G and 4G LTE networks

  • No physical retail stores or traditional customer support centers

  • Provides service entirely through mobile apps and online platforms


Plan Options

Visible offers two primary unlimited plans:

  1. Visible Basic - $25/month - Unlimited talk, text, and data (deprioritized speeds). Hot spot access is limited to about 5 Mbps.

  2. Visible Plus - $45/month - 50GB premium high-speed data, 5G Ultra Wideband access, international perks. Hot spot is 2X that of the Basic plan or about 10 Mbps.


Both offer discounts for paying annually. For example, the Plus plan is $395/year or $32/month. 

Key Advantages

  • Low-cost alternative to traditional Verizon plans

  • Unlimited data with no hard caps

  • Unlimited mobile hotspot

  • No annual contracts

  • Flexible monthly or annual payment options


Limitations

  • Customer support only available via app and social media

  • Base plan experiences potential data speed slowdowns

  • Limited to Verizon's network coverage areas

  • Visible is designed for budget-conscious users who want reliable network coverage without the high costs of major carriers.


https://www.visible.com/

Note: Not all Verizon phones work with Visible. If you want to use a phone you already have, check its IMEI on the above site to see if it is compatible. Or you can purchase on they have where its cost will be amortized into the monthly bill. I dislike purchasing an asset as part of a "plan" and prefer buying outright from other sourcea. This is a new open-box phone that works (using it now) for about a hundred bucks, about half the cost.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156271277431
s-l1600.webp

It's a popular phone with lots of cases available:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=samsung+galaxy+a15+case

I got this one which is OK. It is well constructed, fits well, offers some drop protection, and the built-in stand is nice, but the case recesses the power button where its biometic fingerprint sensing doesn't work reliably IMO which is bit annoying. 
81J6LQiNmjL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
81JpITmCCML._AC_SL1500_.jpg
I doubt it meets the above military spec, but just providing a small air gap between the case and phone edge will prevent most screen breakages if dropped. The design of almost all modern  phones with their emphasis on slim and sleek with screens that run to outer perimeter is pure planned obsolesce, and almost all phone "upgrades" are done due to broken screens...and buggered USB charging ports.

ALL phones should be designed like the made-in-Japan Kyocera Duraforce phones, my favorite but unfortunately not compatible with the Visible network :(
s-l1600.webp
I've dropped it 50 feet from rooftops unto concrete, accidentally driven over it with my F-350 diesel truck, and used it to take underwater photos (it's water resistant to depths deeper than I want to swim). One has to ask, why aren't all phones designed like this for durability? Indeed, it seems the world is driven by emotion and looks instead of functionality. Emotion and looks (and the ability to make me sandwiches) may be what I'm looking for in a girlfriend, but not a phone.

Added later 08 min 30 s:

I'm currently using the Basic Plan which advertises 5 Mbps using the phone as a wireless hot spot--showing 7.4 Mbps. I have a very weak Verizon signal at my house, usually only showing one bar, so that's pretty good and above their advertised rate.

screenshot-from-2024-11-17-13-08-25_603.png

Re: Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

#2

That's a great option if you're close enough to a Verizon tower, or any tower for that matter. I have the Verizon Internet Gateway, but I'm sitting in a nearly dead zone between their towers and I'm getting far less than 5G. If I try to use my computer while simultaneously having the TV on, my pc works at dial up speed more times than not.

Re: Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

Edited #3

Peter Martin

@Dale Stansbery,

I'm in a similar situation with a very weak Verizon 4G signal, yet I'm consistently getting over 5 Mbps. My normal fiber connection is 1000 Mbps, so this is much slower, but from a real-world user standpoint, it seems adequate if there are not a lot of people sharing the connection and trying to stream videos, play online games, etc. When browsing, it feels like most pages load as fast as on 1000 Mbsp, and I have not seen any buffering issues while watching videos in high resolution (1080p).


Free Visible Trial

Check your existing internet speed using https://fast.com/

If it's less than 10Mbps, you may consider the Visible free trial:

https://www.visible.com/free-trial

If you do not have an old phone you are not using that passes the above IMEI test, enter the following IMEI

3502 5176 6880 509

and order this phone

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156271277431

and complete the process for a free trial.

The SIM and phone should arrive about the same time.

Put the SIM in the phone and follow the instructions to activate the account.

The phone runs Android 14. Go to

Settings -> Connections -> Mobile Hotspot and Tethering - Mobile Hotspot

Create a hotspot and turn it on.

This hotspot is the wi-fi to which you will connect your TV and computer.

Run https://fast.com/ speed test again and compare.

If it is worse, cancel the account and return the phone. If better, you now have home internet with unlimited data for $20/month.

If you prefer using Ethernet to your devices instead of wi-fi, the below mini router allows you to tether the phone's hotspot and then port it out through WAN / LAN Ethernet connections. It also enables you to split the IP between multiple devices, as Visible will only "see" the IP of the router.

https://www.amazon.com/GL-iNET-GL-MT300N-V2-Repeater-300Mbps-Performance/dp/B073TSK26W/

Added later 01 min 24 s:

I may upgrade to the Visible Plus plan to see if I can get double the hotspot speeds as they advertise.

Re: Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

#4

I think the thing where these types of hot spot or internet setups fail is with more than one user or devices hogging bandwidth when they're not actually using it, and of course, what caused me to get fiber when covid started......
.....hosting a zoom or teams meeting. 

Comcast dominated this neighborhood for a long time, but they have been thumped by verizon fiber, which for a while was only offered with a land line. the Fios tactic is a cheesy one, though - offer you a package with a rate that's guaranteed to never go up and the notify you some time later that the service tier has been eliminated so you are getting an "automatic upgrade" along with a price increase. 

But the FIOS does have super upload speed for meeting hosting. 

Verizon's cell network used to be king here in the mid atlantic - it was available rural and urban, but the others have caught up and probably passed it. Not sure what happened. Too much reliance on $100 a month business plans? A lot of businesses around me have gotten rid of the business holding the cell plan, and instead just give a stipend and all of us rank and file folks go out and get a discount unlimited plan like this (former republic for me, $25 a month for 5g unlimited and unlimited hotspot - if they meter the rate, I'd never notice on the phone).

Re: Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

#5

Peter Martin

>I think the thing where these types of hot spot or internet setups fail is with more than one user or devices hogging bandwidth when they're not actually using it, and of course, what caused me to get fiber when covid started......
.....hosting a zoom or teams meeting. 

Yeah, this is more a last-ditch option when no other options exist. I live in Appalachia within reasonable distance from civilization but have friends who who don't yet have a bit of a Verizon signal, and they use this as the daily driver home internet as there are no other options sans expensive bi-directional sat (with caps and latency) and Musk's StarLink which is a $600 equipment investment and $120/month. Many on are fixed incomes (retired, disability) and money is an real issue. 

Re: Cell service with UNLIMITED data for $20/month

#6

Look like I'm wrong about verizon - sort of. Googie says they're the biggest post-paid carrier and remain that, and I see they've added a sub-company attempt to imitate mint/republic (now deceased, but those of us grandfathered get 5g unlimited for $25 under boost who uses....tmobile or AT&T?). Whatever the case, verizon has 37% of the market still and probably - speculating - a lot of people like my dad who are happy to pay for a phone only contract at $52 a month for a flip phone with no data. 

there definitely have been folks on woodworking forums operating from satellite data in the hills - with very very limited data allotments. 

I guess those older arrangements are probably going to feel a lot of pressure from starlink. 

I don't know anything about verizon otherwise, but they probably have old cash and can acquire similar to what tmobile did with mint.

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