Q: What network does Boost Mobile use?
A:. Owner of Boost is Dish. They are trying to create their own network. That will take forever though. In the meanwhile, they are using both At&t and T-Mobile. For online deals, expect to receive a T-Mobile sim.
Q: Is there a trick to receive an At&t sim?
A: No promises this will work, but someone said entering 49619 as the zip code accomplishes this.
https://howardforums.co
Q: If I receive a T-Mobile sim, can I use a purchased At&t sim and activate the sim using this plan?
A: Maybe. When ordering, check the box: "I will transfer it (existing number) during activation." Later on, log into your account activate this plan using the At&t sim . Whether this technique still works with the promo plans is unknown to me. People usually do this with regularly priced plans.
Q: Where would I even get an At&t sim?
A: Not at big retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, or Best Buy. They all sell the T-Mobile one. You would need to go to a Boost retail store. Store cooperation is mixed as they probably want to sell you a new line. Alternative would be ebay. On ebay, search using something like the phrase: "This Will Give You Access To AT&T Network With This Sim Card By Boost Mobile".
Q: Should I pick: "Yes. I will transfer it during activation." OR "No. Give me a new number.
A. Selecting the transfer option is the better option even if you want a new number as this delays activation. Boost will activate the sim if you select the new number option which means you lose service days while the sim is in transit.
Q: I want to port my number in but I still have a few months left with my other provider. Can I delay activation that long?
A: From a Boost rep on reddit: "For this promotion, there should be no restriction here and you should be free to activate whenever you'd like!"
https://www.reddit.com/r/BoostMob...t/krt6r5e/
Q: I activated a T-Mobile sim but now I want to try the At&t one. Is it possible?
A: No because in order to switch networks you would have to port out, start a new account, port back in, and sign up for whatever plan is available at that moment. The 1/2 price $300 plan will surely not be an option then.
Q: Can I get a new number now and then port in a different number sometime in the future after evaluating the service?
A: No.
Q: When does the deal end?
A: According to the Boost rep on reddit: "11:59 PM MST this coming Sunday evening (02/25/2024)."
Q: I am not staying for year 2. What do I need to do?
A: Make sure auto-pay is disabled. Auto-pay settings can be found on their website and within the Boost One app. Other option is to port out. Port out at least a week before year 1 ends. ****Boost will charge you the regular price of $300 for year 2 if you do nothing.****
Q: If after year 1, can I downgrade to a different, cheaper plan?
A: Probably not unless you port out and then back in as all the less expensive plans are for new users. After a year, you would not be considered a new user.
Q: Deal says new users only. How do I get around that?
A: Use an email address never associated with Boost.
Q: I am a active Boost user. Can I just switch to this plan easily?
A: No. You would need to port out and come back in with a new email address and account. Any unused Boost coins would be lost and if you have a Boost-locked phone, the 1 year service requirement to unlock it would be interrupted.
Q: What happens after I use 35gb for the month?
A: Throttle speed is 512kbps. This deal is more suited for those who reach past 35gb only on rare occasions.
Q: I can get past the email check.
A: Disable ad-blocker, use a different browser, or go to the cart directly:
https://boostmobile.com/shop/buy/...:FS6Months
Q: What the heck is a Boost Coin?
A: Currency that can be used to pay off your Boost cellular service plan. Coins cannot be used to buy a phone. Five minutes of your time done everyday would yield about $11, $12, maybe $13+ (if you are lucky) a month off your bill. Less coins will be earned if there are glitches in the app. People who purchase this annual plan would not be able to use any of the coins earned until it is time to pay for year 2.
How to earn Boost Coins
1. Launch the Boost One app (log in if needed).
2. Spin wheel to see how many coins you win (99% time wheel lands on 5 coins).
3. Watch 5 video ads that last about 30 seconds each.
4. Set alarm on your phone for 24 hours later because that is earliest you can spin the next day.
5. Done for the day.
Q: I see phones at a discount on the Boost website. Can I buy them at that price now that I am a Boost user?
A: You can only buy one if you declare yourself as a new user with a different email address & also pay for the 1st month of service which is usually $40 or $60. Then, you would disable auto-pay and let that plan expire after the first month. Phone would still be locked to Boost as the account used to buy the phone was not active for 12 months. However, you could move the phone to an account that has active service on Boost.
Q: What is the 9 month upgrade rule?
A: Boost usually allows users whose accounts are 9+ months old to buy one of the discounted phones you see on their website without purchasing a new line or upgrading their existing plan. Whether the 9 month upgrade rule will apply here is not known as Boost can make changes to their policies anytime they want. We will just have to wait and see.
Q: Is eSim supported on Boost Mobile?
A: eSim works only for newer Apple devices. Android not yet supported. I seem to remember Boost moving old Sprint customers on eSim to At&t. So, maybe it is easier to get onto At&t with an e-Sim supported Apple phone as compared to Android users who want to be on At&t. Obviously this is just a guess on my part.
https://www.boostmobile
Top Comments
When you activate, the SIM uses its $150 credit to purchase 1 year of service at the discounted rate of $150.
If you fail to activate in the time frame, which is anywhere from 3-6 months, they will charge you full price (an additional $150) and add it to the SIM cards balance for when/if you ever activate it.
No matter what, you are purchasing 1 year of service and the SIM card they send will forever have 1 year of prepaid service sitting on it. Whether you activate in 1 day or 3 years it will still work, the only difference is whether you pay $150 or $300 for that SIM.
Wasted so much time and energy when I bit on a Slick Deal last year and they overcharged me $180 which took 10+ calls and 2 months to get back (They initially issued it as credit to my account and I had to fight even more to get it back to my card)
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Boost also does NOT give you a choice of which network sim they will be sending you. You might be able to activate on At&t if you already have a At&t black sim. No promises that it would work though. At&t sims can be bought on ebay for $10 if you wish to try.
Once you activate a sim on Boost, that number cannot switch to the other network without porting out.
T-Mobile was what I wanted. I received T-Mobile (It was their choice, I had no say), which has a tower about one mile from my house. I'm very rural and while it has 5G on it, it's band n71, so not super-fast but will work well when my fiber is down, or power is out.
In the small town about 15 miles away, I was getting 600Mbps downloads on 5G. I had left T-Mobile when they took my account from Sprint. I must say, at least in my rural location, they have improved service.
"By clicking 'Buy Now' or 'Pay with PayPal', you agree to pay the amount due today. Your service will not begin until your SIM is activated. If you are getting a new phone number, your SIM will be automatically activated 2-3 days after order."
So i guess if I am getting a new number, it will be automatically activated even I don't do anything, which is not what I want. I want to wait until my current plan with Mint unlimited to end first and then activate this one.
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Pay Monthly
Unlimited
$150.00/mo
Total Due Monthly
$/mo
Paid Today
Boost SIM Kit Envelope
$0.00
Shipping
$0.00
Taxes
$1.76
Surcharges
$0.00
Total Paid Today
$151.76
ie, you will only be charged $150/year, not per month. But it'll likely show as per month in some places. On their website it'll show the wrong dates for service expiry/next payment/etc in some places, but not in others. If you try and ask them about it, you'll likely get a different answer.
Sit back, ignore things like what you saw, presume it's all OK, and it probably will be. That's about the best advice I can give for using Boost (well, other than "don't" but it's too late for that now!)
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By offering aggressive promotions like this, they can attract new customers quickly and disrupt the pricing models of established carriers. That is, Boost Mobile is more than just a MVNO, they if anything, are a tool for Dish to establish their brand and to meet their buildout obligations to the US Government for all the spectrum they own.
Since Dish wants to establish itself as a major player across the entire wireless market, they need customers to use their core network. That network at the moment is even smaller than the old Sprint network, thus attracting subscribers with discounted plans allows them to test their network capacity, identify potential issues, and gain valuable usage data that informs their network expansion. No one would want to use a service that did not work away from their home city, or as I remember, cost prohibited away from home.
Related, all carriers collect vast amounts of data on customer usage patterns, and a lot of this is held as proprietary and used as a business advantage. Even on promotional plans, Dish gains valuable insights into how people use their phones, which can help them tailor future plans and services. They are, after all, trying to create the 'big four' vs the current big three, so like I said, this is more than trying to compete with lost-cost MVNOs.
I suspect that Dish is getting bulk services from T-Mobile and AT&T at a good discount since they loaned spectrum to AT&T and T-Mobile for free during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work, telemedicine, e-commerce and remote schooling put a larger load on those networks. They have agreements to use (at a cost) T-Mobile's network until 2027 and AT&T's until 2031.
By those dates, Dish's raw 'owned' spectrum will be worth around 100 billion dollars. Sure, they need revenue, thirsty, not so sure.
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