Are you a University Student? Get a free SIM card!
Today we’re launching an exclusive student discount; We are happy to announce that ALL college students are eligible to a free US Mobile SIM card!
US Mobile was originally founded by a student for other students. It all started 10+ years ago when founder Ahmed Khattak set foot on Yale’s campus as a freshman only to find that getting a cell phone plan in the US was unnecessarily cumbersome. After graduating from Yale, Ahmed decided to solve this problem by launching US Mobile. His dream was to provide excellent coverage, free international text messaging and 4G LTE data speeds.
We offer cell phone plans customized for students
At US Mobile we know how important it is for you to keep in touch with your loved ones and new friends on campus. That is why we’re offering universities a student discount. You can pick up a US Mobile SIM card from the International Student Services Offices of our University Partners. Another alternative is to email us and we’ll send a SIM card to you. Visit: www.usmobile.com/student-discount for more information.
If you’re a Student Services Offices’ representative and you want to become a partner, please email help@usmobile.com with the subject line: “University Partner”.
Why take us up on the student discount?
We believe your cell phone provider should offer simplicity and value. That’s why we’re offering customizable plans so you just pay for what you use.
We hope you will enjoy your time on campus and your new provider!
Use the Wi-Fi Assistant to Reduce Your Data Usage
Did you know that nexus users can use Google’s Wi-Fi Assistant to automatically connect to open Wi-Fi networks? The Wi-Fi Assistant is only available Nexus devices running on Android 5.1. If that’s what’s in your hand, pay close attention to minimize your cellular data usage.
Activate the Wi-Fi Assistant
This is how you automatically connect to open networks:
- Open your Settings app.
- Tap Google.
- Tap Networking.
- Click “On” next to the “Wi-Fi Assistant”
You will be able to see in your notification bar and on the network connection that you’re connected via the Assistant. As with other connections you can always “forget” a network you don’t want to connect to.
If you’re having trouble connecting to an open network, Google might not have verified that network. Meaning that they don’t regard it as good enough in terms of reliability and speed. Another reason could be that you already connected manually to the network. If the network requires several steps to set up a connection, you might also have issues. When in doubt, try to connect manually.
Give it a go if you have a Nexus, and if you have another device and want affordable data, check out our data plans page.
Save with US Mobile.
You Heard About IoT but Do You Really Get It?
What is IoT?
The Internet of Things, IoT in short. You may or may not have heard of it. It’s a phrase that’s becoming more and more prominent in the tech world.
What does it mean? Gartner defines it as “the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external environment”. Did that make sense? Probably not. Simply put, it is the concept of connecting all devices that can be turned on or off, to the each other, through the internet. Beyond smartphones and tablets, examples of devices include:
- Cars
- Medical devices
- Fitness trackers
- Smartwatches
- Security and logistic systems
While IoT isn’t a new concept or market, it definitely is a rapidly evolving one. There are currently about 1 billion connected devices (approx. six devices per households) in the US. By 2021 that figure is expected to triple.
US Mobile was founded with IoT in mind
When US Mobile was founded back in 2014, we set out to provide affordable cell phone plans. However, we also wanted to provide companies in the IoT space with affordable options to connect their devices to the world. Inserting a US Mobile SIM card into any device could instantly allow the device to communicate and transfer data anywhere.
Therefore US Mobile enables a wide range of industrial and consumer IoT applications, including logistics tracking, alarm systems and wearables. All use GSM SIM cards to operate. Let’s say you have installed some kind of sensor, maybe at the front door of your house. Every time someone passes the sensor, you receive a text message notifying you about the activity. You’ll finally be able to tell exactly what time your significant other (or kids) get home. How clever is that?!
The IoT market is exploding
As mentioned earlier, Internet of Things is evolving, and the growth rate of connected devices is staggering. Earlier this year the industry reached a significant milestone when the growth of connected cars surpassed smartphones. In his Q2 US Market Update, IoT and wireless analyst, Chetan Sharma reports that IoT (including connected cars) net adds exceeded phones and tablets combined for the first time ever.
Since US Mobile’s plans are completely flexible a device that only needs texts will have no issue signing up for an affordable text-only plan (starting at $2 per month). We also provide a separate login for companies to a dashboard with real-time data, giving the account holder a good overview of usage and costs. This is in line with Neil Postlethwaite’s, director of IBM Watson IoT Foundation platform, projection that IoT will be the “single greatest source of data on the planet” within the next two years. At US Mobile we’re all about collecting and interpreting data in order to offer the best solutions to our customers.
Devices using 2G can stay connected
Finally, you may have heard about AT&T’s decision to shut-down their 2G services at the end of 2016, which consequently will leave several IoT devices without a working network. US Mobile will continue to support the 2G GSM network through 2020.
Stay tuned for more updates on US Mobile’s new connectivity!
Image Source: PC Quest
Your “Unlimited” Phone Plan is Extremely Limited
There is no such thing as an Unlimited Cell Phone Plan and if you are paying for one, you are probably flushing money down the toilet. There is growing controversy around phone plans sold as “unlimited” yet chock-full of limits! These carriers use fine-print to list all types of restrictions and are not really providing the unlimited service as you might expect. In particular, you may find that streaming video is delivered at a lower quality and the internet gets throttled (meaning intentionally slowed down) after you cross some threshold of data usage or if your device is switched to run on a Wi-Fi hot spot.
Furthermore, “unlimited” plans are expensive and the average American’s monthly cell phone bill is $70 per phone, according to JD Power. At US Mobile, we know that most of you don’t actually need unlimited talk, text and data. The average US Mobile customer uses just 125 minutes talk, 150 texts messages, and 250MB data each month. That means that if you’re an average customer, you’ll spend just $15/month with US Mobile. Millennials, who tend to use more data but aren’t too keen on actually talking in the phone, could get 2.5GB data, 100 minutes and 100 texts for $27/month.
We know that different people have different needs and that’s why all of our plans are fully customizable and there are no hidden fees or overages. We will also never lock you into a plan and our user-friendly dashboard allows you to quickly and easily monitor your usage and top up or downgrade at any time.
If you are switching from a monthly plan to a no-contract provider, it’s important to know how much data you’re actually using each month. Check your latest bill or go online to your account to see how much talk, text and data you use in an average month and compare what you are paying now with what you would be paying at US Mobile by checking the pricing menu below.
Stop paying for what you don’t use, or don’t even get in certain cases. Visit our Plans Page now and choose the plan most suitable to you.
Using Machine Learning to Lower Phone Bills
“US Mobile Helps Customers Better Manage Their Phone Plans Via Machine Learning” is the headline Wirefly used when covering how we use AI to lower our customers’ cell phone bills. As mentioned many times before, we don’t believe in the industry-wide, one-size- fits-all approach of unlimited plans where users end up paying for bigger plans than they actually need. Instead our customers can customize your plan to individual needs, which they can change throughout the month by looking at their usage on a real-time dashboard.
It doesn’t stop there though; As a next step we use machine learning to analyze usage across the proprietary platform. The technology allows us to gather data seamlessly, analyze it and and from there, personalized opportunities get pinpointed to provide customer savings. We’ve basically created an artificially intelligent engine whose only job is to look for ways to keep more cash in users’ pockets.
This isn’t the first time (and definitely not the last time) we’ve covered how you can Save with US Mobile. We recently wrote a post on how to How to Cut your Cell Phone Bill by 80% so check it out to maximize your savings.
Image Source: telemeen.blogspot.com
