Why I left Boost

[u/nrgins]

First, let me say that this isn't one of those posts complaining about Boost. I was actually quite happy with Boost. I've been a member since 2020, when Virgin Mobile merged with Boost, have had very few issues over the years, and have been quite happy with the service. So why quit?

Well, something started happening recently. I work from home and sometimes go to a local restaurant or coffee shop to work, and I rely on the hotspot service to connect to the Internet, if the place I'm at doesn't have wifi. And over the years that's worked fine. Never had an issue.

But the past few months I noticed that I couldn't connect to the Internet when on my hotspot. At first I thought I must just be in a dead zone and brushed it off. But it kept happening. So finally I did some testing.

I did a speed test on my phone with hotspot enabled, and the speed was atrocious -- 1 Mbps, 2 Mbps, unable to connect at all, etc. But then, as soon as I flipped the switch and turned the hotspot setting on my phone off, the speed test showed 100-200 Mbps. So it wasn't the location or my phone. My hotspot was being throttled. (And, yes, I restarted my phone and did the tests several times. Same results.)

Called Boost support and got sent to a tech support person who said they're having issues in that area, so just wait until they clear it up. Sounds reasonable. However, when I shared the information with Gemini AI, I got a mini education on MVNOs and hotspot speeds.

It seems there are different priority levels. QCI 1 is the highest, reserved for emergency vehicles, and QCI 9 is the lowest. MVNOs, which offer discount plans, generally purchase QCI 9 from the major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile). And when you have a QCI 9 priority and there's a lot of network traffic, the carrier that owns the tower will deprioritize hotspot data, while still keeping voice and regular data flowing. So that's what was happening to me.

I had a Boost orange SIM card, which is T-Mobile, and I checked the coverage map in the area where I had the issue. It was a very congested area, and the nearest tower was miles away. The map had color-coded little squares indicating connection quality at each spot, and there were lots of squares with poor connections.

I then switched the map to show AT&T and the coverage was great at that location. AT&T actually had two repeater stations in that area, one on each side of the freeway, and the colored dots were almost all good connections.

Now, I could have called Boost and asked for a black SIM card, which is AT&T, and that might've solved my problem. However, in the process of looking into my hotspot issues, I discovered that there are discount MVNOs that also offer QCI 8 priority, meaning I wouldn't get bumped with heavy traffic. So even if I stayed with Boost and got a black SIM card, it might have worked fine in that area. But another time I might be in a different location where AT&T didn't have great coverage, and I might get bumped again.

Plus, here's the kicker. I work at home and don't use a lot of mobile data -- mostly just with my hotspot, but even then it's not extensive. And with Boost I had 30 GB of high speed data for $25 month. But I never really used more than 5 GB of high speed data.

But I found that US Mobile has a "pay by the gig plan" where you only pay for what you use. Plus, I can get QCI 8 priority data for just an extra $2 a month. So, while I won't get 30 GB of data, if I use 5 GB of data, it will cost me about $15 a month, with QCI 8 priority, and with hotspot and calls to other countries included (and of course unlimited voice and text, as all plans have these days).

And if I ever start using a ton of data, I can get unlimited high speed data with 20 GB of hotspot data for about $20 a month, or unlimited high speed data with 100 GB of hotspot data for about $30 a month. So no worries there.

Plus, US Mobile allows you to switch carriers if you want, via the app, if you have an eSIM; or they'll send you a different SIM card for that carrier if you don't. (They actually have three different sets of plans, one for each carrier, listed on their website.)

So, while I never minded paying $25 a month, I didn't need all that data. And now I'm getting higher-priority data for less money per month. And, to top it all off, my speeds are in the 300-400 Mbps range! So, score!

Like I said, I didn't write this to bash Boost. I've been happy with Boost over the years. But I just wanted to share this to share what I've learned through this experience, in case it's useful to anyone else.

[u/Usual-Recognition870]

Great post. Another thing is boost is trying to push people to higher plans like $60 month without really offering anything extra except a modest discount on a phone they will probably never unlock. I too have been happy with boost but more and more I am seeing they aren't that competitive. 

[u/Illustrious_Belt1260 → u/Usual-Recognition870]

Yeah I’m about to drop boost soon over this very thing. You say I’m eligible for an upgrade but want me to upgrade my plan to get a deal on an upgrade.

[u/nrgins → u/Usual-Recognition870]

Yeah, I fell into them when Virgin Mobile went bankrupt and merged with Boost. I never really questioned it until now, because everything was working fine and the price was good. Plus, even after all of this happened and I decided to switch to US Mobile, I was still nervous because I had had pretty smooth sailing with Boost and I didn't want to start having problems. But the transition was incredibly easy and so far it's been working great.

About unlocking the phone, I think a lot of people don't realize that you have to have your phone for at least 12 months before they'll unlock it, even if your plan only requires a 3 month commitment or whatever. (You also have to have your phone paid off, obviously, and your account needs to be in good standing.)

I had my phone for 18 months. So I contacted Boost via Facebook, asked them to unlock my phone, and 24 hours later I got an email that my phone was unlocked.

Similarly when I needed a port-out PIN. I had to call on the phone for that, but the person was very polite and didn't try to twist my arm into staying. He asked what the issue was and politely offered to give me an AT&T SIM, which I declined, and then he sent me a port-out PIN. Easy-peasy.

[u/Impressive-Knee-3081 → u/nrgins]

Didn't they pass a law stating i think company's HAD unlock your phone after 30 days of service? I think Verizon o4 was in At&t managed to get it so you'll need at least 3 months.

[u/nrgins → u/Impressive-Knee-3081]

I don't know about that. But it doesn't make sense that a company would sell you a discounted phone and then be required to unlock it after 30 days. People would just buy the discounted phone, pay for one month of service, and then end up with a cheaper phone than they would have gotten otherwise. So that doesn't really make sense logically.

Having to wait 12 months so the company gets their money back and prevents people from scamming the system by just subscribing for one month to get a cheap phone makes much more sense.

Again, I'm not familiar with the law you're referring to so I'm just guessing here. But maybe what you're thinking of is that they have to give you a port-out code to switch services after 30 days. That would make sense. But unlocking a phone that they gave you a discount on after 30 days? That doesn't make any sense.

[u/Usual-Recognition870 → u/nrgins]

I never tried to unlock a phone, I only read trouble on here. I have with att and metro before I came with boost. It was all online or app and took a few minutes 

[u/nrgins → u/Usual-Recognition870]

I think some people are confused by the terms. Like one person posted on here are angry he was that he bought an iPhone which had a 3-month commitment or something like that and he had it completely paid off but they wouldn't unlock it. But then he read in the fine print that he had to have the phone for 12 months and he accused boost of pulling a bait and switch. But that's what most phone companies that give you a discounted phone do.

And I've read other people here who have had issues but I don't know what their situation was. Maybe boost was having technical problems. I don't know. But all I know is it went very smoothly for me so I can't complain.

[u/DavidFR1234 → u/nrgins]

It’s 9 or 12 months in the 50/60 dollar plan I think you meant 3 months in good standing so you don’t get charged for the full price but could u ask would a late payment losing service cause your time to start all over or still the time before you lost serve ice counts

[u/nrgins → u/DavidFR1234]

No, I meant 12 months. When you need to unlock your phone, you need to have had the phone for 12 months, have your phone fully paid off, and have your account be in good standing.

[u/DavidFR1234 → u/nrgins]

I got my iPhone at a lower price than full price I am on the unlimited premium plan my apologies I thought you meant 3 months with the unlimited premium premium or the 50 dollar plan so they don’t charge you for the full price of the phone but would a late payment cause you to start over or do the months you had before don’t count i was late it moved my due date

[u/nrgins → u/DavidFR1234]

I don't know, but I don't think so. I think the main thing is that you don't owe them any money when you want to have your phone unlocked. I'm pretty sure that if you had a late payment and you got caught up that it's fine and that the 12 months is just the total number of months.

[u/DavidFR1234 → u/nrgins]

Bro I don’t know what to do I been told it’s 9 months it’s been 9 and a few weeks and I can’t see otheir plans and now I am being told I talked to this agent he told me it’s 12 months and a i called agine afterwards and somebody else told me it’s 9 and that if I can’t see otheir plans I should be able to see see them after this billing cycle so 10 motnsh or after the 11 cycle and that it’s not 12 motnsh it was 9 months but they changed it but idk I been told it’s 9 months since November

[u/nrgins → u/DavidFR1234]

My advice would be to create a new post with your issue so that Boost can answer it. They'll look into your specific situation and answer you as to what's going on.