Red Pocket - MVNO that runs off T-Mo, ATT or Verizon (you choose). We prepay for a year and it runs about $18/m per person for 12gb of data and unlimited everything else.

We like mint mobile a lot. Never any service issues.

I have had Straight Talk for years now. It's been fine and better now that you have a choice of ATT or Verizon to use since Verizon seems to work better in my area. I think I pay 54 total for 1 line. I had tried to switch to Visible but I had such a hard time that I ended up just staying put.

Boost mobile is ok in DC unless you need to use it underground.

Been mostly happy with Visible by Verizon. $25/mo for unlimited everything.

Anonymous wrote:I use straight talk on a byo phone and I am very happy

Same

I have Simple Mobile $67 for two lines. The price went up considerably in past few years so I should look at their new packages.

Cricket? Adv say $30 a month.

If you truly want reliable service, then you need to go with one of the big 3 (and, often, only certain services with those companies). All MVNO and most prepaid traffic is deprioritized, relative to high-end postpaid traffic. Google the company and "QCI levels" for details. This is often not normally an issue, but can be a problem when the network traffic is high (which is likely when you need the service the most).

Also, that Fi rate doesn't include international access, but you can switch and pay for their international plan just for the month you're away, so not a big deal if you don't travel much internationally.

I use straight talk on a byo phone and I am very happy

We switched to Google Fi and have been very pleased. $100/month for 4 lines. You have to bring your own phone or buy them separately from them, but they have some huge discounts on phones if you sign up and buy the phones at the same time. E.g., a Pixel 8a (usually $450) is free.

https://fi.google.com/about/phones

More options here:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-wireless-carrier/

We’ve had T-Mobile for years, but now looking to upgrade very old phones. The new T-Mobile plans are significantly more expensive ($240 for 4 lines) + the phone costs. Verizon, ATT, they all seem to be about the same.

Are there other known companies out there with reliable service that aren’t going to break the bank? We prefer unlimited text/data/calling and prefer not to have to pay daily costs for occasional travel abroad.