{"id":333943,"date":"2017-02-22T07:24:41","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T23:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2017\/02\/21\/sprint-att-verizon-tmobile-unlimited-plan-comparison\/"},"modified":"2017-02-22T07:24:41","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T23:24:41","slug":"data-plan-comparison-unlimited-options-from-t-mobile-verizon-att-and-sprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/data-plan-comparison-unlimited-options-from-t-mobile-verizon-att-and-sprint\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Plan Comparison: Unlimited Options From T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&amp;T and Sprint"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/cell-phone-plans\">T-Mobile<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verizonwireless.com\/plans\/verizon-plan\/\">Verizon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.att.com\/shop\/wireless\/data-plans.html\">AT&#038;T<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sprint.com\/landings\/unlimited-cell-phone-plans\/index.html\">Sprint<\/a>, the four major carriers in the United States, all offer unlimited data plan options as of last week, allowing customers to forget about traditional data caps.<\/p>\n<p>With so many options now available for unlimited data, we thought we&#8217;d do an in-depth video comparing the plans offered by the four companies to figure out the best value based on price and coverage.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5jmg3PGYTxo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, Sprint offers the lowest prices, but many people choose not to use Sprint because its LTE coverage is poorer than other carriers. Eliminating Sprint, T-Mobile offers the next best deal, while Verizon comes in third, and AT&#038;T comes in at a distant fourth.<\/p>\n<p>For a single individual, Sprint charges $50 for new customers (for a limited time &#8212; it goes up to $60 next year). T-Mobile charges $70, Verizon charges $80, and AT&#038;T charges $100, making it the most expensive unlimited plan of the four carriers for an individual user.<\/p>\n<p>Prices even out a bit more with an increasing number of lines. At four lines, Sprint is charging $90 (new customers only &#8212; and it&#8217;s $160 next year), T-Mobile charges $160, and Verizon and AT&#038;T both charge $180. Not all plans are equal though, especially in AT&#038;T&#8217;s case.<\/p>\n<p>While Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all offer high-definition video streaming by default, AT&#038;T limits video streaming to 480p unless customers specifically opt out. Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile all also offer 10GB of tethering data per line for connecting your Mac or iPad to your phone, but AT&#038;T offers no mobile hotspot functionality with its unlimited plan.<\/p>\n<p>T-Mobile offers the same video streaming and hotspot option that Verizon and Sprint do, but its prices are better than Verizon and aren&#8217;t much more than Sprint, while offering a better network. T-Mobile is also the only network that offers fee-free data plans, so the price listed &#8212; $70 &#8212; is what you pay. T-Mobile doesn&#8217;t charge activation fees, but other carriers do, which is something to take into account.<\/p>\n<p>All networks will &#8220;deprioritize&#8221; (aka slow down) data after a certain amount of data is used per month. T-Mobile&#8217;s limit is 28GB, while AT&#038;T&#8217;s is 22GB, Verizon&#8217;s is 22GB, and Sprint&#8217;s is 23GB. When these caps are hit, data speeds are slowed down.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, T-Mobile seems to offer the best value for the price, but it&#8217;s always worth taking a look at coverage maps and getting the opinion of other cellular users in your area before choosing a provider. There are also other benefits to look into, such as coverage abroad &#8212; another area where T-Mobile leads the pack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/cell-phone-plans\">T-Mobile<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verizonwireless.com\/plans\/verizon-plan\/\">Verizon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.att.com\/shop\/wireless\/data-plans.html\">AT&#038;T<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sprint.com\/landings\/unlimited-cell-phone-plans\/index.html\">Sprint<\/a>, the four major carriers in the United States, all offer unlimited data plan options as of last week, allowing customers to forget about traditional data caps.<\/p>\n<p>With so many options now available for unlimited data, we thought we&#8217;d do an in-depth video comparing the plans offered by the four companies to figure out the best value based on price and coverage.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5jmg3PGYTxo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><center><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/macrumors?sub_confirmation=1\">Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel<\/a> for more videos<\/em><\/center><br \/>\n<br \/>\nUnsurprisingly, Sprint offers the lowest prices, but many people choose not to use Sprint because its LTE coverage is poorer than other carriers. Eliminating Sprint, T-Mobile offers the next best deal, while Verizon comes in third, and AT&#038;T comes in at a distant fourth.<\/p>\n<p>For a single individual, Sprint charges &#36;50 for new customers (for a limited time &#8212; it goes up to &#36;60 next year). T-Mobile charges &#36;70, Verizon charges &#36;80, and AT&#038;T charges &#36;100, making it the most expensive unlimited plan of the four carriers for an individual user.<\/p>\n<p>Prices even out a bit more with an increasing number of lines. At four lines, Sprint is charging &#36;90 (new customers only &#8212; and it&#8217;s &#36;160 next year), T-Mobile charges &#36;160, and Verizon and AT&#038;T both charge &#36;180. Not all plans are equal though, especially in AT&#038;T&#8217;s case.<\/p>\n<p>While Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all offer high-definition video streaming by default, AT&#038;T limits video streaming to 480p unless customers specifically opt out. Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile all also offer 10GB of tethering data per line for connecting your Mac or iPad to your phone, but AT&#038;T offers no mobile hotspot functionality with its unlimited plan.<\/p>\n<p>T-Mobile offers the same video streaming and hotspot option that Verizon and Sprint do, but its prices are better than Verizon and aren&#8217;t much more than Sprint, while offering a better network. T-Mobile is also the only network that offers fee-free data plans, so the price listed &#8212; &#36;70 &#8212; is what you pay. T-Mobile doesn&#8217;t charge activation fees, but other carriers do, which is something to take into account.<\/p>\n<p>All networks will &#8220;deprioritize&#8221; (aka slow down) data after a certain amount of data is used per month. T-Mobile&#8217;s limit is 28GB, while AT&#038;T&#8217;s is 22GB, Verizon&#8217;s is 22GB, and Sprint&#8217;s is 23GB. When these caps are hit, data speeds are slowed down.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, T-Mobile seems to offer the best value for the price, but it&#8217;s always worth taking a look at coverage maps and getting the opinion of other cellular users in your area before choosing a provider. There are also other benefits to look into, such as coverage abroad &#8212; another area where T-Mobile leads the pack.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkback\">Tags: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/roundup\/sprint\/\">Sprint<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/roundup\/t-mobile\/\">T-Mobile<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/roundup\/att\/\">AT&amp;T<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/roundup\/verizon\/\">Verizon<\/a> <\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forums.macrumors.com\/threads\/sprint-att-verizon-tmobile-unlimited-plan-comparison.2033806\/\">Discuss this article<\/a> in our forums<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.macrumors.com\/~ff\/MacRumors-All?a=DT6eB_bNhPw:hnAECmQk9Yg:6W8y8wAjSf4\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MacRumors-All?d=6W8y8wAjSf4\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.macrumors.com\/~ff\/MacRumors-All?a=DT6eB_bNhPw:hnAECmQk9Yg:qj6IDK7rITs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MacRumors-All?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/MacRumors-All\/~4\/DT6eB_bNhPw\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[68,69,59,26],"class_list":["post-333943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-macrumors","tag-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}