T-Mobile's service in New York may be excellent, but if you're in a rural area in Colorado, Verizon could be more reliable.Īll three, however, offer 5G and ever-increasing coverage and data speeds as they all ramp up deployments of the latest wireless flavor. Zooming in is where things get a bit more complicated, which is why we can't offer blanket recommendations for one carrier over another. Look at a zoomed-out map of the US on the websites for AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon and you'll likely see it pretty well colored in by their respective color. You can find those details here: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon. To get a several hundred dollar trade-in credit toward a new iPhone, Pixel or Galaxy, you often will need to commit to a postpaid plan from one of the big three carriers and be willing to stay with that provider for 24 to 36 months.Īll three of the major wireless carriers also offer a variety of discounts on the plan pricing depending on age, employment, military or veteran status or if you or someone on your family plan is a nurse, teacher or first responder. Prepaid providers are generally cheaper than postpaid options, though they also often (but not always) are more limited when it comes to additional streaming perks, hotspot data or device discounts. The difference boils down to this: With postpaid you are paying for your plan after you've used your service, while prepaid lets you buy that allotment in advance.

When choosing a phone plan, there are generally two main options: a postpaid carrier like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (plus cable options like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile) and prepaid providers such as Mint Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Google Fi Wireless and Cricket.

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