Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Mint Mobile is adding truly unlimited data, removing the 40GB cap.
- The Unlimited Plan will still have QCI 9 data, meaning it may experience temporary deprioritization during peak times.
- During non-congested periods, you’ll get the fastest speeds possible, regardless of how much data you’ve used.
Last year, T-Mobile officially became the owner of Mint Mobile. While this didn’t change how the carrier operated in any meaningful way at first, that arguably ends with its upcoming announcement — surprisingly, for the better!
Previously, Mint Mobile’s unlimited plan wasn’t truly unlimited, as data speeds were reduced to virtually unusable levels once you exceeded 40GB. Going forward, you’ll be able to use as much data as you want, with no permanent speed reduction.
Although this has yet to be officially announced, users on Reddit are reporting that their unlimited data will no longer have a cap. In the same thread, Mint Mobile’s co-founder confirmed that an official announcement will be made this week but assured users that the change is indeed happening. It’s likely that T-Mobile has been planning this move for a while, but the timing seems intentional, considering US Mobile recently announced that its Dark Star network is also getting truly unlimited data.
Would you consider switching to a Mint Mobile Unlimited plan now that the data cap is gone?
1 votes
To be clear, while Mint Mobile’s data is now truly unlimited without hard caps, it still runs on T-Mobile’s network with a priority level of QCI 9. This means that during times of congestion, you could experience slower speeds and higher latency compared to T-Mobile’s postpaid plans.
Sometimes, speeds will still be plenty fast, but in high-traffic areas — such as major downtown locations — you might experience significantly reduced speeds during peak times. The key difference is that this slowdown is only temporary; during non-congested periods, you’ll still get the fastest speeds possible, whether you’ve used 10GB or 200GB.
Overall, this is great news. Mint Mobile has long been one of our most recommended prepaid carriers at Android Authority, and we felt it was a great value alternative to the big three carriers. Regardless, its data cap was always a major drawback. With the cap gone, Mint Mobile looks like the most affordable way to get unlimited data on T-Mobile’s network, especially for those who only need one or two lines.
That said, there are whispers that this change may also apply to T-Mobile Prepaid and Metro by T-Mobile. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to confirm as much information on that just yet.
As for when the change will roll out to Mint users? For some, it already has. However, as noted by Reddit users, it may require your plan to cycle first. It’s also possible that the rollout is happening in phases. Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before we get an official announcement.
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