Oh Ting, you disappoint me!

March 30, 2023 1:45 PM

I've been a devoted Ting Mobile user for some years now, and just bought a new iPhone14. It uses an eSim, not a physical Sim card, and Ting doesn't support it. Now what?

I've been using Ting's flex plan, which charges $10 per line and $5 per gigabyte of shared data, with unlimited minutes and texts. Most months, we use less than a full gig of data so our bill is usually $25 plus tax. The unlimited minutes and texts are much less important to us than the pay-for-what-you-use data. Is there another mobile company out there that has a similar deal for unlocked phones? Or do I have to return the new iPhone and wait until Ting catches up with technology?

posted by DrGail to Technology (17 answers total)

This Cell Phone Plan Comparison Chart can be filted by eSIM support, price, etc.
posted by glibhamdreck at 1:54 PM on March 30, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: The Frugal Girl may have options.

I'm still on ting and mourn for you.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 2:09 PM on March 30, 2023

Best answer: I just left Ting after a long happy run with them for the same reason. It doesn’t sound like they do plan to catch up with technology, so you should definitely jump ship. When I was doing research, one of the Ting reps admitted that the Ting team is basically a skeleton crew as the focus has shifted to support Boost, who is also owned by their parent company Dish. The rep said there were no plans to support eSim. To back this up, I found a few online forums about this with people pointing out that Ting has been saying they were looking into eSim for years and it was a very obvious choice for them not to do it by now.

My partner talked me into joining Mint Mobile which she has and it has been great — actually cheaper than Ting so far. I had the same plan as you on Ting. I did prepay for six months to get the best price but even month to month it was comparable to Ting. (I do not have a family plan, that might be a cheaper option.)

Big “but…” coming up: Unfortunately Mint was just acquired by T-mobile, which makes me worry they will go downhill and no doubt raise the price. But it was a very easy switch and I am okay sticking with them until anything changes, and would still recommend them to you if it turns out their price and coverage is the best for you!
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 2:11 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Same boat here, and looking to jump ship when I buy a new iPhone.

That spreadsheet is very cool.

I'm also wanting to get Apple Watch cellular support, but am not willing to pay $10 (+ fees + taxes) = ~$15/month for the watch alone.

So far, the only providers I've found that has Apple watch for $5/month are
* Visible.com
* T-Mobile (some of the special plans, e.g. Magenta 55+ which require you to be old)
posted by soylent00FF00 at 2:17 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I truly don't know why the T-Mobile essentials plans aren't better known. The unlimited talk/text 1GB plan is even cheaper than Ting. You don't get the perks of "real" T-Mobile like international data but for basic use it's excellent. I am currently using it on an eSIM. Having had Verizon prepaid and T-Mobile prepaid, the latter is better in all ways. Another option for you is Google Fi, it has flexible data and does work internationally. (Though it must be activated in the U.S., no exceptions.) Google's customer service is horrible. And that is coming from someone who had Virgin Mobile for a looong time due to price.
posted by wnissen at 2:24 PM on March 30, 2023

Best answer: I used Ting for maybe 12 months? They were fine. I have used US Mobile for almost 4 years now, and I love them. I had one minor issue in 2019, but they've been flawless since. I have unlimited talk + text plus 5gb of data and my bill is $19.91/month.

It looks like their shared data plans are $9/line and $2/gb; so that seems within the same pricing range as you're used to. Porting was easy, and porting with an e-sim is probably even easier, since you don't have to wait for a sim in the mail.
posted by god hates math at 2:55 PM on March 30, 2023

If you’re okay with paying for a year upfront, AT&T’s 16 GB prepaid plan comes out to $25/month. I’m using it with an eSim on an iPhone 13, and haven’t had any issues. 8 GB of that will rollover, so if you rarely use data, it’s closer to 24 GB of data a month.

If you by chance have Comcast internet, XFinity Mobile is a decent option that lets you pay by the gig, and (IIRC) only supports eSims.
posted by boisterousBluebird at 3:29 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I use T-mobile's Connect plan, which is $15 for unlimited talk/text & 3.5GB data. I buy refill cards online from Target & save 5% for using my Target RedCard. They often have discount deals where you buy one refill card & get a discount on the second, so I try to get enough for several months at a time to take advantage of stacking these deals. In my state, there is no sales tax on these refill cards, so I end up paying about $13/month by using refill cards rather than paying directly with a credit card.
posted by belladonna at 3:52 PM on March 30, 2023

Best answer: I've had Tello and Mint Mobile, either of which I think would work well for you guys. Tello has a plan with unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 1GB data for $10. For two people, that's $20/month for 2 gigs, which sounds like it's cheaper than what you have now. (They also have a $9 plan for half as much data.) Tello is a month-to-month plan - you can change between months if your situation changes - which is nice.

Mint is a little more expensive and you have to prepay for a year to get the best rate. You could each get a $15 Mint plan each with 4 GB, which would set you back $30/month, which is only $5 more than you're paying now. But I think Tello works better for smaller data plans,** like the kind you want.

**I personally prefer Mint to Tello because the plans with more data are cheaper than Tello. I have a 10GB plan for $20/month with Mint that works well for me, and it would be more expensive with Tello.
posted by ClaireBear at 4:03 PM on March 30, 2023

like international data

Just as an aside, if you find you do need international data then there are specialist eSIM providers like Ubigi and Airalo that will sell you huge amounts of international data (only data!) for pretty darn low rates. They also sell North America data as well, if you never really use actual voice calls.
posted by aramaic at 4:25 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Another happy Tello customer here.
posted by coffeecat at 5:00 PM on March 30, 2023

Adding to the international SIM thing I'd bet your phone supports multiple eSIMs. Mine is an older iPhone and supports two, I believe. So you can get a purely roaming eSIM or a purely roaming, purely data eSIM for travel times, and still use and/or receive calls on your usual number. You set defaults for which sim to use for outbound calls and data.

Mint, quietly, has free international calls to unexpected countries. Given your bill, you clearly don't make international calls on your mobile right now, but if this is a thing you might do in other circumstances check their rates.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:50 PM on March 30, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks for the input everyone. I forgot to mention that 99% of our monthly data usage is on my phone, which of course changes the calculus a bit. I marked the options that look like they'll work best for our situation and I expect we'll pick one of those, but all of the suggestions were really helpful. I hate to leave Ting, but if they aren't going to keep up with the times, it looks like they aren't really interested in staying competitive and that concerns me.
posted by DrGail at 7:16 PM on March 30, 2023

Check into Visible. It's $25/month for unlimited data, all taxes/fees included. There's no per-line charge because they don't really do family plans/shared data, so each phone would be $25/month. But the not-having-to-worry-about-data-usage thing is well worth it.
posted by pdb at 7:27 PM on March 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

I've had Visible for a year or so. I think the basic plan is now 30/month for new subscribers, but it's unlimited data on Verizon's network. Customer service is text/ chat only, and not great, but the reddit group is very helpful. I use an esim, service has been reliable.
posted by theora55 at 8:57 AM on March 31, 2023

I'm also a happy Visible customer. Found out about here on the green.
posted by kathrynm at 9:46 AM on March 31, 2023

Response by poster: For anyone who is following this question or encounters it down the road: We ended up going with US Mobile. Their pooled plan (which allows for shared data) was closest to the flex plan on Ting and looked like the best deal for people who use very little data. It is $9 per line, with unlimited talk and text, and $2 per GB. I had some issues getting one of the numbers ported over - which was entirely my fault - but they were very helpful both on chat and phone and everything is good now.
posted by DrGail at 3:17 PM on April 8, 2023