5G is becoming more mainstream and its coverage is becoming more ubiquitous, it is still not included by default in all carriers’ plans. Even as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile prioritize the proliferation of 5G with more towers and microcells, access to 5G is often sold at a premium.
We’re happy to share that’s not the case anymore, many other carriers including US Mobile have come into the market to provide 5G connectivity. We’ve done the research factoring in coverage, speeds, technology, perks, and price from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Mobile to give you plenty to consider. We’ll be comparing the following plans that give access to 5G: Magenta Max from T-Mobile, Unlimited Elite from AT&T, Get More Unlimited from Verizon, and Unlimited All from US Mobile.
Understand the different types of 5G
One of the most important things to consider about 5G is to understand what type of 5G you’d like. That’s right, there are a couple of different types of 5G. Here’s a quick breakdown of those.
One thing to keep in mind is that 5G operates on 3 different types of frequencies—low, medium and high.
| LOW BAND Travels the farthest and can even go through things like walls but is only about 20% faster than 4G. |
| MEDIUM BAND Doesn’t travel as far as low band but is 2X-4X faster than 4G. |
| NARROWBAND Doesn’t travel as far as lower band ones but have signals that can give data speeds of up to 3Gbps. |
In summary, the low band covers a lot of space, slowly, the medium band covers less space at faster speeds, and the high band covers the least space at super-fast speeds.
Here is our assessment of the 5G coverage and access on each plan complemented by the availability from the PC Mag report.
| Unlimited Elite (AT&T) | Magenta Max (T-Mobile) | More Unlimited (Verizon) | Unlimited All (US Mobile) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW BAND | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| MEDIUM BAND | ✅ | Coming soon | Coming soon! | |
| NARROW BAND | ✅ | Coming soon! | ||
| Availability | 38% | 54% | 4% |
Through our partner networks for Super LTE and GSM LTE we’re able to offer coverage on all the available bands. Also, since speeds on narrowband are so amazing we named our high-frequency narrow-band coverage—Warp Speed 5G.
Line pricing
These carriers also offer escalating discounts as you add more lines. Here’s the comparison of the per-line cost of each carrier’s Unlimited plan as you add more lines. We did the math for you. just count the number of lines you have and see how much you’d be paying per line below.
| # of Lines | Unlimited Elite | Magenta Max | Get More Unlimited | Unlimited All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85 | $85 | $90 | $45 |
| 2 | $75 | $70 | $80 | $30 |
| 3 | $60 | $57 | $65 | $25 |
| 4 | $50 | $50 | $55 | $25 |
Insider info on data
Most unlimited plans have a high-speed data threshold that they’ve put in place to protect their networks against abusive use. From our experience and analytics, it’s about 0.1% of the user base who use their SIMs in uncertified devices or illegal ways who are ever affected by these thresholds. You shouldn’t worry about this for a normal type of use, but if you’re someone who streams in 4K or games online a lot here’s what you should know.
| Carrier | Limitations? |
|---|---|
| Unlimited Elite (AT&T) | None |
| Magenta Max(TMobile) | None |
| Get More Unlimited (Verizon) | Data may feel slower for users using >50GB/mo/line. |
| Unlimited All (US Mobile) | Data may feel slower for users using >75GB/mo/line on Super LTE and >50GB/mo/line on GSM |
If you have a 5G compatible device (if you don’t already have one you can find a couple in our shop), and would like to try out what 5G is like you can alway get a Starter Kit from and try out our 5G completely risk-free. Just order a Starter Kit using the promo code FREEBLOGSIM.
